The Great Cabbit Search
by BobR
Summary: In which our heros travel to other lands in search of treasure and meet some interesting people.
1. On Your Mark...

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 1

On Your Mark…

*****

"Ok people, listen up!" Washu called to the chattering group seated in her lab.  

It had absolutely no effect; the babbling continued.

_Like they don't all see each other on a daily basis.  Why do people always wait until they're all gathered in a single spot to talk? _ the diminutive scientist and part-time goddess wondered.  She reached into a subspace pocket and pulled out a large weapon.  Careful not to point it at anything that might be damaged, she pulled the trigger.

WHAM!  The plasma discharge burst over the heads of the group and the talking immediately stopped.  Well, almost.

"Oooh!  Pretty!" exclaimed Mihoshi.  "Did you bring us here to watch fireworks Washu?"

Washu gritted her teeth and mentally restrained herself from pointing the weapon at the blonde and discharging it again.  It didn't help that she kept remembering that Mihoshi was a distant relative of hers.  Maybe it would be better to point it at herself…  Resisting all temptation, she tossed the weapon back into its hole.

"No.  And now that I've got your attention, I'll begin."  She cleared her throat.  "As you all know, I've been researching the origin of the strange cabbits."  She looked over at Ayeka gently stroking Ay-ohki's long white fur.  "I've found several realities that they could have come from, but I can't pinpoint it exactly.  In some, they even appear to be natural entities capable of assuming many different forms.  The only way to tell for sure is to collect samples, so that means traveling to those realities.  Skuld, if you please?"

The little Goddess stood up and walked over to a large device covered by a tarp.  She pushed a button on a remote control and the tarp vanished.  The group gasped in awe as Washu's machine stood revealed for the first time.  It was a phone booth looking thing, painted a faded blue with the word POLICE stenciled over the door.

Ryoko was the first to recover.  "Hey!  What is this?  It looks like a big blue box with a door."

Washu snickered.  "Very perceptive Ryoko.  It _is_ a big blue box with a door.  I got the idea for it from an old TV show.  That door leads to a new addition to my lab.  Now, if you'll all follow me…"

*****

The room was… huge.  No, bigger than huge, but huge was the only word Tenchi could think of at the moment, except maybe "immense".  In the center of the dimly lit room was what looked like a lake.  Whatever it was, it was dark and ripples appeared to move across its surface.  The lake was entirely surrounded by a yellow guardrail with caution signs hung every few meters.  A quiet humming sound permeated the air.  Tenchi turned to his mother-in-law.

"What is this place Washu?"

"It's the transfer room for my Reality Hopper.  That's not water out there, it's a portal to another dimension," she answered.

The rest of the group ran to the guardrail to look.

"Hey!  Be careful, those caution signs aren't there just for looks ya know.  That portal empties into hard vacuum."

"Washu, what's causing the ripples?" Sasami asked.

Washu walked up to the rail.  "There's an energy shield covering the portal.  If it weren't there, that thing'd be sucking air right now.  The ripples are the effect of the vacuum on the positive pressure over here.  The shield is thick, but isn't that strong.  Watch."  

She took a small tool out of one of her pockets and tossed it into the portal.  It sat for a moment and then slowly fell through.  They could all see it floating in space on the other side.

"For some reason the portal requires a vacuum on at least one side.  Since we know what's on this side of the portal, I've put the other side in space where it'll be pretty much invisible to anyone passing by and we can enter that reality without being seen.  This means we're going to need a spaceship to travel in," Washu explained.  "That's why I made it this big."

"We have Ryo-ohki," Ayeka commented.  "Or Ay-ohki."

Washu shook her head.  "Ay-ohki's not full grown; he shouldn't be transforming for a couple months yet, and Ryo-ohki's not big enough.  Oh, she's fine for you three lovebirds and maybe even short trips for everyone else, but all of us'll need more room to live in or we'll be at each other's throats.  It's too bad Ryu-oh's not regrown yet."

Ayeka looked at Ay-ohki.  "Ryo-ohki was transforming when she was younger than him."

Ryoko opened her mouth but Washu interrupted her.  "That was the second generation Ryo-ohki.  She didn't have to be taught.  And if you haven't noticed, the larger her cabbit form, the easier it is for her to transform.  Ay-ohki is still very small.  Give him time though, I think he's going to be somewhat larger than Ryo-ohki."  She looked at her daughter and the princess.  "And I'll remind you two again even though you're starting to find out yourselves: maturity is not a function of size for a cabbit.  But all that aside, we still need a ship."

"How about Yukinojo?" Mihoshi piped in.

"Well… Yukinojo's big enough to live in, but we may need more cargo space.  I'm thinking of something a _little_ bigger."

Mihoshi's face fell.  "Oh.  Then it's too bad we can't use Yagami.  It would be perfect."

"Bingo!" said Washu with a big grin.

"OH!  You mean…?" Mihoshi's face lit up.

Washu's grin got wider.  "Yep.  I've already called her.  She should be here within the next couple of days.  She has some GP business to finish up first."

"Oh boy, oh boy.  I get to see her again.  Goody, goody, goody."  Mihoshi started bouncing from foot to foot and clapping.

"Washu!  Washu!"  Sasami was also jumping up and down, and pointing.  A planet was moving into view in the portal.  "That looks like the Earth!"

Washu looked over at Skuld who had been standing quietly the whole time, having seen all this many times before.

"It is Sasami."  Skuld answered with a small smile.  "But not _our_ Earth.  That's where we're going first."

*****

Author's Notes.

Well, here we go.  I'm sorry this chapter is so short; and the next two will be fairly short as well I think.  After that I promise they'll get longer.  (Author ducks some rotten vegetables tossed at him.)  Really!  I promise!  Oh, and Washu's machine IS NOT A TARDIS.  She just painted the entrance to look like one.

BobR

12/7/2001


	2. Get Set...

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 2

Get Set…

*****

Tenchi watched as the great silver form of Yagami settled over the lake.  He thought it would be nice to see Mihoshi's ex-partner again, everyone in the family, including Ryoko had liked her when she was here a few months ago.  _At least she doesn't crash into the water when she lands, _ he thought.  Ever since Ryo-ohki had emerged from the lake after 700 years of slumber it had been a magnet for out-of-control craft.  First Ryo-ohki again and Ryu-oh, then Yukinojo's shuttle.  Several times.  In fact, he was considering having it renamed "Lake Mihoshi" for it's most frequent occupant.

The docking ramp descended and the dark-haired GP made her way down to the group below.  If Tenchi hadn't known that she was a cyborg, her movements never would have given her away; she was as graceful as a dancer.  _She's a beautiful woman, _ he thought, only to be poked in the ribs by Ryoko and smacked in the back of the head by Ayeka.  He realized that he must have vocalized his thoughts.  "Ow!  Hey, I'd never give you two up.  I was just thinking how good her body is…  Er, that didn't come out quite right either.  How about 'how well her mechanical body is working'?"

After another poke Ryoko put her arm around him.  "We knew what you meant dearest.  We just don't want your thoughts wandering too far.  Right Mrs. Masaki?" the ex-pirate looked at Ayeka.

Ayeka grinned back at her.  "You are absolutely correct Mrs. Masaki."  Smack.  "You need to pay attention to what your wife tells you darling."

*****

Kiyone reached the bottom of the ramp and stepped off.  It retracted slowly behind her.  She pressed a button on her remote and the ship faded from view.  Raising her head she looked at the group in front of her.  Mihoshi was dancing from foot to foot, a big grin splitting her face; Ryoko was glomped onto Prince Tenchi while Princess Ayeka stood next to them; Washu and Princess Sasami were both looking at her with smiles on their faces; Washu's young student and Lord Yosho stood impassively watching her.  She shook herself and strode forward.

"Captain Kiyone," Washu said, "good to see you again.  How's everything working?"

"_Everything_ is working as promised Doctor Washu.  And it's Colonel now."  Kiyone replied with a wink.

"Ah!  Congratulations.  And just call me Little Washu please.  We don't use titles or rank around here.  Let's go into the house and get comfortable."

"In a moment Little Washu.  I have one final duty to perform as a GP official before I'm officially on vacation."  She turned to Mihoshi.  "Detective First-Class Kuramitsu Mihoshi, front and center."  Kiyone pulled an official-looking paper out of her breast pocket.

Mihoshi stepped forward and saluted.  "Yes sir!"

Kiyone chuckled, "Mihoshi, you're out of uniform."

"But Kiyone, I thought we were on holiday.  Sir."

"Don't worry about it, I'm teasing you."

"Yes sir, er, Ma'am!"

"Ahem.  Well.  Anyway.  Attention to Orders.  Let it be known that Detective First-Class Kuramitsu Mihoshi is hereby promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and given her choice of assignments after a period of vacation not to exceed one solar year.  Signed and dated blah, blah, blah.  Congratulations Lieutenant."  She saluted her ex-partner and held out her hand.

Mihoshi returned the salute and took the offered hand.  "Thank you very much sir, I mean Ma'am."  She did a perfect about face and stepped back into the group who immediately mobbed her with their own congratulations.

Kiyone turned back to Washu.  "_Now_ I'm on vacation.  Let's go relax in that onsen of yours before we move on to the important stuff.

*****

All of the girls except Skuld, who had left for the day, gathered in the onsen while Tenchi went off to train with his grandfather.  Kiyone sank into the warm water with a happy sigh.  She saw Mihoshi staring at her with wide eyes.

"What now Mihoshi?" she asked.

"Um, won't you, you know, _rust_ or something?" the blonde asked innocently.

Kiyone chuckled and the others broke into laughter.  "No Mihoshi.  No more than you will."

Ayeka turned to the teal-haired GP.  "Miss Kiyone, you sound like you enjoy the feel of the bath.  Your cybernetic body can't really get tired and sore, can it?"

Kiyone looked down and made a little splash in the water.  "No princess, but my _mind_ thinks that it should and thanks to Washu, I _can_ feel the warmth and pressure of the water.  And _that_ feels good."

"Oh.  I apologize if I offended you with my question."

"No offense taken.  It was a perfectly valid question.  I just thank the goddess that most people can't tell my body's a mecha.  Unlike the previous model, which actually squeaked occasionally."

"So, Kiyone," Ryoko spoke up.  "How did you get to be a Colonel?  I thought Major came after Captain."

"It usually does.  But both Mihoshi and I were due a promotion after the liner incident and the higher-ups were so impressed with my new body's abilities that they skipped me up two ranks.  It pissed a lot of people off let me tell you.  I'm still very unpopular in the O club."

"Just glad I could help," said Washu with a grin.

The GP officer turned to her ex-partner.  "So Mihoshi, where are you going to go for your next assignment?  My department needs some fresh blood if you're interested."

"Well, I think I'll just stay here."

"Here?  This isn't an assignment for a Lieutenant.  It's patrol duty."

Tears rimmed the blonde's eyes, "But these're my friends, my family.  I can't leave them."

"What about your grandfather?  And your mother?  You still have friends at Headquarters too.  They're always asking about you."

"Really?  Well they know where I am and they can come and visit me if they want."

Sasami started to giggle.

"What's so funny Sasami?" Washu asked.

"Well, Mihoshi has a boyfriend in town now too," the little princess said.

"Mihoshi!  Is this true?" Ayeka exclaimed

The blonde blushed.  "Well, sort of.  We met when we knocked each other down at the market.  He's taken me out a few times since then too.  I really like him."

"Does he know about you?" Kiyone asked.

"What?  That I'm an alien?  Don't be silly, I'm not _that_ dumb Kiyone." Mihoshi stated.

"Phew!  I was worried for a second.  Well, good luck then."

Mihoshi looked at the other GP.  "You know, you could stay here too Kiyone.  I'm sure Tenchi wouldn't mind."

Kiyone shook her head.  "No Mihoshi.  You're not the only one with a boyfriend now.  I'll be staying at Headquarters for a while.  _You_ can visit _me_ there sometime.  I'll introduce you to him."

Mihoshi's eyes lit up.  "Oh Kiyone!  I'm sooo happy for you.  Are you going to have any children?"

Kiyone fell face down in the water, bubbles coming out of her mouth.

*****

At dinner that evening Kiyone asked Washu what her plans were.

"Well," the scientist replied, "tomorrow we'll prep Yagami for the trip, then leave day after tomorrow.  I want to warn you all though," she looked around the room, pausing at each person.  "We will be encountering other versions of ourselves, and they probably won't act like we do.  Be ready for anything."

*****

 To be continued

*****

Author's Notes.

Jeez.  I posted two of these in a single day.  I was bored at work this afternoon; programmer's burnout I guess.  Looking at Visual FoxPro code all day hurts my eyes and I've been doing it all week, along with preparing for my two classes.

I know, I know.  Yagami is red, not silver.  But Yagami was never actually in the OAV so I can make it whatever color I want.  Besides, I have my reasons.  It will all become clear in a future chapter.  

Hey!  I just realized; I haven't had much for Skuld to do yet.  Don't flame me for it, I hope to fix that oversight in the near future.

BobR

12/7/2001


	3. Go!

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 3

Go!

*****

Ryoko stood at the guardrail surrounding in the cavernous Transfer Room.  She watched through the portal as the alternate Earth rotated beneath her.  She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Washu come up from behind.  The first inkling she had that she wasn't alone was when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"What'cha thinking so deeply about Ryoko?" her mother asked.

"I was just wondering what our doubles were like on that Earth.  Did Ayeka and I both marry Tenchi there, or was it just one of us?  Or maybe neither.  What was my life like in that reality?"

"My, those _are_ deep thoughts.  Would you like to see?  I can't guarantee anything, but we can try."  Washu assumed her adult form and put her arm around her daughter.  

Ryoko rested her head on her mother's shoulder, still gazing into the portal.  "Yes, please.  I want to know."

"Why?  Aren't you happy here?" the scientist asked, concerned for her daughter's well being.

Ryoko smiled to herself, "Oh yes, very.  I don't think I could imagine living any other way now."

"Then why would you want to see how the Ryoko of that world lives?" Washu wondered.

"I dunno, call it a morbid curiosity.  But I need to know, show me please." The pirate begged.

"Ok, but remember that this is in realtime.  If she's in the house sleeping or something we won't be able to see her."  Washu snapped her fingers and a scanner appeared.  She pointed the lens at the portal and activated the screen.  An image of Japan seen from 500 miles up appeared.  Manipulating a joystick, she zoomed in on the area around the Masaki shrine.  She began to scan around the area until a familiar head of spikey cyan hair appeared.  "There you are.  And look, you're with Tenchi and he's not pushing you away, that's a good sign."  The two were seated in the grass on a hill overlooking the lake.  Tenchi appeared to be drawing something in a sketchpad.

Ryoko sighed, "I'll bet it's me he's drawing.  Funny, _our_ Tenchi has problems making stick figures.  Anyway, see if you can find the princess now."

Washu scanned the area again and finally settled on the house.  There was something subtly different about it, but Ryoko couldn't quite put her finger on it.  She watched as the other world's Sasami came running out of the house, Ryo-ohki perched on her head.

Ryoko smiled at the image.  "Well, Sasami's there anyway.  Ayeka can't be far away.  Ok mom, I've seen enough.  Thank you."

"You sure?"  Washu snapped her fingers again and the scanner disappeared.

"Yeah.  I wonder what they're like, those other us's," Ryoko said, still gazing into the portal.  "It looked so peaceful there."

Washu shook her head, "We'll probably never know Ryoko.  Sorry."

"What do you mean?  Aren't we going there?" asked a puzzled Ryoko

"Well, yes.  But not specifically to Earth.  The only cabbit there is Ryo-ohki and we've already got one of those.  I'm just using Earth as a transfer point because it's so out of the way," the scientist explained.

"But you said…" Ryoko's voice trailed off.

Washu chuckled, "That was just in case.  I'm gonna try to keep it from happening if I can."

"I guess I can understand that." Ryoko turned toward the exit.  "I'll go help Tenchi and Ayeka get our stuff ready.  We should be leaving soon."

Washu put out a hand to stop her.  "Wait Ryoko.  There's one more thing, just in case."  She opened a subspace pocket and pulled out the three gems.  "Here, I want you to have these back."

"I don't understand.  They contain your power and besides, I really don't need them anymore.  Why give 'em back?"

"For two reasons.  Once we're in that reality I won't have access to the subspace of this one.  That means I can't get to them if I need them.  And if I take control of them myself, I'll be unsealed again.  And that scares me.  Really scares me."

"And the other reason?" her daughter asked.

"Did you notice anything different about that other Ryoko?"

"No…  Wait, she didn't have any gems either."

"Right.  As far as I can tell the gems don't exist in that reality.  Call it a safeguard.  If you two ever do meet, we'll be able to tell you apart."

"Ah.  I suppose it's all right then."  Ryoko concentrated and the gems appeared on her wrists and throat.  She hissed as she felt their power flow into her.  "Aaaah.  I'd almost forgotten…"  Her symbol flashed, then faded on her forehead.

Washu chuckled, resuming her petite form.  "Don't get too used to it my dear, you're not keeping them after all.  Now go help the others.  I've got to get Yagami moved into position for the transfer."

*****

Kiyone was seated in Yagami's pilot seat and Mihoshi was acting as co-pilot.  Washu stood between the two and watched the view screen.

"I guess we're ready," she said as she watched the ripples move across the surface of the portal.  "Let Yagami settle slowly into the field.  We should just sink right through."

"Will there be any kind of transition effect?" asked Kiyone, adjusting the anti-grav unit.

"Not as far as I know.  We shouldn't feel a thing."  Washu replied.

"Ok Mihoshi, bring the engines online and put them on standby," the dark-haired GP ordered.

"Yes ma'am, I mean Kiyone," Mihoshi answered, flipping a series of switches.

A rumbling vibration was felt briefly.

Kiyone took a deep breath, "All right people, here we go!"  She killed the power to the anti-grav generators and the ship fell into and through the portal.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

As promised, this was short, but at least they're finally on their way.  I suppose I could have combined Chapters 1, 2 & 3 into one, but then I couldn't have used the titles I did.  Oh, and as a cyborg, Kiyone didn't really have to take that deep breath, she doesn't really need to breath at all; she just did it for effect.

To answer some of my reviewers:

Dennisud – No, the good doctor won't make an appearance, although I have read some crossover fics that used him.  Neither will The Master, Daleks or Cybermen.  I suppose it could be done, but I don't think Tenchi would know what a jellybaby is, do you?  Pocky maybe, but not jellybabies.  And you'll have to explain to me about the Douglas Adams reference.  It's been about ten years since I've read any of his books and if I used one it was purely by coincidence (I'll bet Washu knows the meaning of "42" though.)  You did know he was a writer for Dr. Who in the 60's and 70's didn't you?  He will be missed.  So long and thanks for all the fish…

The Knight – I've read your fic and I like it.  I REALLY like it.  The reason I haven't reviewed it is that it's so well written I don't think I'm qualified.  The same goes for Krin Dreamweaver's wonderful AU fic and pretty much anything by Silver.  I just wish Krin'd write faster.

Priest – I like your fic too, although I'm not a big fan of ALL the girls getting Tenchi.  So far though, it's pretty good.  You are going to finish it aren't you?

Meekachu – Since ff.net only allows one review per chapter, e-mail me and we'll see if I can't help you with some ideas.  I like what you've written so far… (My e-mail address is in my profile.)

Buggyness – If you read my review of your fic, sorry if it sounded bad.  What I meant was that at the time I started it I was getting pretty burned out on Tenchi and was in the middle of watching the Slayers series.  Fortunately shock therapy has cured me (although bimbos with an obnoxious laugh, dressed in skimpy leather bikinis still haunt my dreams…) and I've since gone back and reread your fic; it's another one that's really good.  I take it Ayeka is going to end up with that other person?

(Jeez, these replies are almost as long as the damn chapter.  Go figure.)

BobR

12/9/01


	4. Wherever You Go, There You Are - Part 1

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 4

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

Part 1

*****

Kiyone sat in Yagami's pilot seat idly pecking at the keyboard in front of her.  It was just another boring day watching nothing happen.  She thought about waking Mihoshi up from her nap but decided not to.  It was never a good idea to have the blonde ditz awake and in the control room at the same time.  Maybe she could give Washu a call and see if the scientist had anything she wanted done up here.  Nah, better not even go there.  Besides, her watch was over in less than an hour and then she could kick back for a while.  A small amber light began to blink on the panel and Kiyone activated her monitor.  What she saw caused her to jam the call button down on the intraship comm panel.  "MIHOSHI!  GET UP HERE NOW, I NEED YOU!"

*****

Kiyone looked over at the blonde lieutenant in the copilot's seat quietly and competently going about her duties and sighed.  _Just like old times, _ she thought.  It felt good to be working with Mihoshi again, even though she wasn't quite the same Mihoshi she'd been before the encounter with the neural stunner.  But Mihoshi had always been someone she'd been able to rely on and she was still able to perform her job in an exemplary manner.  And the blonde was one of the few that she could actually call 'friend'.

"Watcha thinkin' about Kiyone?" came a voice from behind her.

Kiyone gave a little start, "Oh.  Lady Washu!  You've been so quiet I'd forgotten you were there.  You were right; I didn't feel anything during the transition.  Are we really in a different dimension now?"

"You betcha.  But dimension is a poor term; I prefer 'reality' or 'time line' or even 'universe'." Washu said in response.

At that moment Mihoshi's sensor panel began buzzing quietly.

"What happened Mihoshi?" Kiyone asked, looking over at the blonde.

Mihoshi punched a few buttons, then swore under her breath.  "We've activated some sort of sensor net, our cloak doesn't seem to have any effect on it.  It seems we've been spotted."  Tears began to fill her eyes.  "I'm sorry Kiyone."

Kiyone handed her partner a tissue from the dispenser attached to the console, "Stop it Mihoshi.  It's not your fault, there's not supposed to be anything like this around the Earth, is there Washu?"

Washu thought for a moment.  "No, not in _our_ reality anyway.  Can you get a reading on what type of energy it uses?  We may be able to identify who put it here."

Mihoshi wiped her eyes and was suddenly businesslike again. "Not without going active and that would certainly give us away to whoever is out there.  I'll turn off our ID transponder, maybe if we just float here they'll think we're just a piece of debris from Earth's space program and ignore us."

Kiyone smiled at Mihoshi's response.  Yes, it certain was good to be working with her again…

*****

Mihoshi stumbled into Yagami's control cabin.  "Kiiyyoonnneee!  I was having this wonderful dream…  And then I heard you calling me on the intercom and then I jumped up but I tripped over my blanket and hurt my head and then the cabin door was stuck and…"

Kiyone covered her face with one hand.  _Why me lord? _ she thought.  _Why did I get stuck with that… that idiot? _

"Mihoshi, just sit down in your seat.  Something tripped our sensor net, it looks like a ship of some kind."

"The Earth is a restricted zone.  Maybe it's just a piece of space junk?" the ditz replied.

"Maybe, but I don't think so.  Its trajectory was taking it out of Earth orbit and there've been no scheduled probe launches from Earth lately."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Well, how about activating Yagami's sensors.  We might just get some useful information from them, LIKE WHO IT IS!"

The blonde winced and pushed a button on her control panel.  A stuffed Ryo-ohki doll fell out of the overhead storage and hit Kiyone in the head.

"Oh.  Sasami's been looking for that."

"MI…HO…SHI…!"

"Sorry."  She pushed another button and the sensors came online.

*****

"Kiyone, we're being scanned!" Mihoshi called to her partner.

Kiyone swore, "Damn.  Ok Mihoshi, go active and get as much data as you can.  We need to know what we're up against out there."

"Right.  Sensors coming up… now!  Locked on… uh… Kiyone, you'd better look at this yourself…"

*****

"WHAT?" Kiyone was shocked.  "What do you mean we're being scanned too?  That's impossible.  We would've seen any other ship approaching Earth.  It's like they appeared out of nowhere."

Mihoshi tapped a finger on her lips, causing her eyes to cross, "Well, I don't know about that…  But they're using a standard GP scanning frequency.  Hey!  Maybe it's our relief."

"They're on a trajectory _away_ from us Mihoshi.  If it were our relief, don't you think they'd be coming _toward_ us?  Try hailing them."

*****

"We're being hailed.  It's a standard GP hail too.  Do you want to answer it?"

Kiyone was still shocked by what Yagami's sensors had found.  Not that she hadn't really expected it after all of Washu's lectures, but still…

"Might as well.  We certainly can't outrun them and shooting is out of the question too.  But audio only for now, ok?"

"Right," Mihoshi replied, flipping a switch.

** This is the Galaxy Police Patrol Ship Yagami, Detective First Class Makibi Kiyone commanding, calling unknown vessel.  Stop and prepare to be boarded. ** came Kiyone's voice from the speaker.

Kiyone keyed her mike, "I don't think that's a good idea."

** What do you mean?  Hey!  Who the hell is this anyway?  You sound just like me.  Stop or we'll fire on you. **

"Mihoshi, video please."

A screen popped up.  To Kiyone it was like looking into a mirror.

"I'm Colonel Makibi Kiyone of the Galaxy Police.  I believe you know my partner, Detective-Lieutenant Kuramitsu Mihoshi?"  Mihoshi grinned at the screen and waved.

The other Kiyone fainted.

*****

Mihoshi looked at Kiyone on the screen then down at her unconscious partner then up at the screen again.  "Kiiiyyonneee!  How can you be there and here at the same time?  I don't understand."  She began to cry.

**  Mihoshi! **

No response.

**  Mihoshi! **

Still no response.

** MI… HO… SHI…! **

"Wha…?  What do you want Kiyone?"

** Mihoshi, I want you to kill Yagami's forward momentum.  Can you do that for me? **

The blonde nodded and reached over her passed-out partner to flip a switch.  A glass of water materialized and fell on top of her partner.  Kiyone moaned.

"Oops."  She pressed another button and Yagami's thrusters fired, bringing the ship to a dead stop.

** Good Mihoshi.  Now, I'm going to come alongside and dock with you.  Don't panic, ok? **

The blonde nodded again.

Kiyone turned to Washu who was still standing between the seats.  "Looks like we'll be visiting this Earth after all.  Oh well, maybe they can point us in the right direction to find these 'rogue cabbits' of yours."

Washu just shook her head.  "I think we'll wait to tell the others."

*****

Two Yagami's, one silver and the other crimson lay side-by-side in space, a docking tube connecting them.  Detective First Class Makibi Kiyone sat holding her head in the rec room of a ship that was hers, but not hers.  All she knew was that her head hurt and a Washu that wasn't Washu was trying to get her to take an analgesic.  She could deal with these people from another universe, her problem was Mihoshi.  There were two of her now; it was almost more than she could bear.

"So you're telling me you're here to find a cabbit?  The only cabbits I know of are Ryo-ohki and Ken-ohki; I've never come across any others.  I suppose they must exist though."

Washu and _her_ Kiyone gave each other a knowing glance.  At that moment Ryo-ohki came through the wall being chased by Ay-ohki.  Washu reached down to scoop up the white cabbit.

"Rowr?"

He began to purr as she stroked him.  She held him out for Detective Kiyone to see.  "This is the reason.  In our Reality there's only Ryo-ohki and I made a promise to the Queen of Jurai that there would never be any more.  Then suddenly…  Well, it looks like I've broken my promise and I don't like to be seen as a fool."

"Washu, those cabbits were in stasis for 90,000 years.  Funaho knows that, she certainly can't blame you," the other Kiyone spoke up.

The scientist sighed, "I know that.  My problem is that if someone brought them across once, it could happen again.  And what happens if that someone sells the technology to one of Jurai's enemies?  Right now I have control; Ryo-ohki can't breed.  But Ay-ohki here is fertile and if they start breeding cabbits…"

Detective Kiyone spoke up, "As I see it, we have another problem."

Washu gave her an inquisitive look, "Oh?  What's that?"

"Well, you guys look just like us.  Won't that cause confusion?"

Washu laughed.  "You don't know the half of it yet.  Mihoshi?"

One of the blondes who had been sitting in a corner chatting looked around.  "Yes Washu?"

"No, not you airhead.  MY Mihoshi."

"Oh." She nudged her double.

"Wha…?  Oh.  What Miss Washu?"

"Mihoshi, could you go get the others and bring them here?  I think it's time we were all introduced."

*****

Tenchi's eyes kept drifting between the two Kiyones and two Mihoshis.  It wasn't that he hadn't believed Washu; it was just that there was a difference between concept and reality.  "You say that Ayeka is the Empress of Jurai here?  What happened to Azusa, Misaki and Funaho?"

"I don't know who Funaho is, but Azusa and Misaki disappeared during Kagato's coup attempt and no trace of them has been found," this reality's Kiyone replied.

Sasami's eyes began to tear over.  "Mommy, Daddy…"

Ayeka knelt to comfort her, "Sasami; Mother, Father and Auntie Funaho are fine.  It's not them we're talking about."

The little princess sniffed, "I know that Ayeka, I was thinking about this world's Sasami.  She must be very upset and depressed."

Ryoko watched Ayeka and Sasami for a moment before turning to her mother, "So Washu, how do how _are_ we gonna be able to tell each other apart once we get down there?  I mean, I know I have the gems again." She displayed them for all to see.  "But what about the others?"

"Well that won't be too much of a problem…" Washu grinned and snapped her fingers.  The gems on Ryoko's neck and wrists began to glow.  To the astonishment of Detective Kiyone, Washu was suddenly an adult and Ayeka's hair was now just a shade darker than her sister's, with a natural curl.  "See?"

Sasami started to giggle.

"What's so funny Sasami?" her sister asked.

"Your hair Ayeka.  It looks like mommy's now."

Ayeka's hands flew to her hair.  She whirled angrily on Washu, "How… How dare you!"  An orange glow began to leak from under her headpiece.

Tenchi quickly stepped between the two.  "Wait Ayeka.  Stop."

"You don't understand Tenchi; get out of my way.  That woman…"

"Ayeka, I said stop.  Besides, I kinda like it like that.  It makes you look… I dunno… Exotic?  Gentler?  And it's only temporary, right Washu?"

Washu chuckled, "If she wants it to be.  It _is_ her natural hair you know."

Ryoko stepped over and ran her hands through Ayeka's hair.  "Ya know, I like it too, I think you should keep it."

Ayeka looked up at her, the glow from forehead fading.  "Really?  Do you both mean it?"

Her spouses both nodded.

"I like it too," Sasami piped up.

Ayeka bowed, "Well, then I apologize Miss Washu."

Washu chuckled again.  "Some demon you are.  The kinder, gentler type I guess.  Now, where were we?  Oh yes.  That takes care of me, Ryoko and Ayeka.  Skuld we don't have to worry about, as her group has never met ours here.  That leaves Tenchi, Sasami and the GP.  Let's see…  Our Tenchi has his wedding band and the ring Tsunami gave him; that should do for him.  The GP…  Hmm.  Colonel Kiyone, would you mind wearing a green headband for a while?  And our Mihoshi can wear a red ribbon instead of the black one.

Kiyone's hand went to her headband.  "I suppose not.  But red has always been my color."

"And it looks good on you too.  It's just for while we're here anyway.  Sasami now…  Sasami, can you contact Tsunami from here?"

The little princess concentrated for a moment then spoke with Tsunami's voice, "This is difficult for me sister.  It places great strain on the little one here, contacting me across realities.  What do you need?"

"Sister, can you change Sasami's symbol to match yours?  I know it will have to be done eventually, why not now?"

"I can and I will.  Now I must leave before Sasami strains herself, it would be better if you called on Tokimi in the future.  Contact me again only in absolute need."

The split triangle symbol on Sasami's forehead glowed and changed into Tsunami's two dots.

Washu rubbed her hands together, "Well that's it then, now we can tell us apart."

Detective First Class Kiyone looked at the scientist with big eyes.  "Who… who are you people?  Was that really the Juraian Goddess talking?  Why did she call you 'sister'?  Who's Tokimi?  Why was Ayeka's forehead glowing?  What are those gems that Ryoko has?  WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

Washu grinned at her, "My, my.  So many questions to answer.  Why don't we wait until we're dirtside and then we'll answer them for everyone?"

"Washu?" Colonel Kiyone spoke up.  "Which Yagami are we taking down?"

"Well, since we're already all here on ours, why don't we just take it?  It'll probably be less of a shock on the others as well if they see us come out of an unfamiliar ship.  Besides, all of our equipment is on this Yagami."

"Right.  Mihoshi, why don't you go up to the control room and start the landing procedure."

"Ok Kiyone!" both blondes answered at once.  They made a dash for the door.  The two Kiyones looked at each other and jumped up as one.

"MIHOSHI!  WAIT!"

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Oh boy.  Two of everyone (except poor, ignored Skuld).  Will any of the others be traveling the realities with them? (Probably not.)  Will they meet still more copies of themselves? (Probably.)  Will there be anything original here? (Definitely, at some point.)  Does Skuld serve any purpose in this fic? (Yes; maybe; I don't know, I think so.)  Where's Tokimi? (Keeping an eye on things back in Washu's lab, someone has to feed the fish after all.  Too bad she doesn't understand how any of it works…)

Review Responses

Priest – Picky, picky, picky.  I realize that Mihoshi's shuttle is just a small part of Yukinojo, but allow me some artistic license here.  If Yukinojo is a single officer patrol cruiser and Yagami is designed for two officers it stands to reason that Yagami would be larger, although both probably have some passenger accommodations for VIPs and such.  And remember, they fit Tenchi's whole house into Yagami's cargo hold in the TV series.  Besides, I needed a way to bring Kiyone back into the story.  And I'm glad you're still working on your fic, any idea when the next chapter will be out?

Vsdefender – Great to hear from you.  I've read some of your Project A-ko fics as well as Tenchi.  Nice work by the way.  Are you going to do anymore with your Mihoshi story?  I was disappointed that you stopped after only one chapter.  I think the reason so many dislike the Tenchi Forever movie was that the animation style was so different from any of the other Tenchi.  That and it was so much more serious in tone.

Buggyness – Yeah, I liked Tenchi Forever too.  That's where I think I got the idea that Ryoko and Ayeka could be good friends (and maybe something more) once the Tenchi problem was resolved.  The only problem I had with the movie was that the artists moved some of Ryoko's bust over to Ayeka making the two about the same size (if not making Ayeka the larger), thus killing one of the series' best on-going jokes.  For my purposes I'm taking the stand that many do: the two Tenchi in Love movies are a continuation of the TV series.  And I'm going to ignore MnE.  I liked the movie and all, it had the feel of the OAV series; but the scenes with Mayuka and Tenchi before they got to Yazuha's world really bothered me for some reason.

Rer – All the 'Pauses' in "Like Talking to a Wall" were intentional and were meant to show that there was actually a conversation occurring.  If it helps, consider it a half-duplex call, like an overseas call.  And that call was from a _lot_ farther than just across a piddly little ocean.


	5. Wherever You Go, There You Are - Part 2

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 5

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

Part 2

*****

Sasami watched out the kitchen window as the great silver shape of the starship settled over the lake.  There was something familiar about it…  Ah!  The GP used ships of that design, in fact it looked just like Yagami; only Yagami was painted red, Kiyone's favorite color.  She ran to get Tenchi and the others.

"Yes Sasami," said Tenchi, putting on his shoes. "I see it.  I wonder who it is?"

"Should I go get the others?" the little princess asked.

"No, leave them be.  Ryoko's up in our room taking a nap and Washu asked not to be disturbed, something about strange readings from the Dimensional Tuner."

At the mention of the device Sasami shuddered.  She remembered what happened last time the Dimensional Tuner broke, although it _had_ been fun being Pretty Sammy in her world.

"Then I guess it's just you and me to greet them, huh Tenchi?"

Tenchi smiled at her, "We're all we need; you represent Jurai and I represent Earth.  And I'm sure Grandpa will be down from the shrine in a bit to see what's going on."

Sasami returned his smile.  "Yeah.  But I wish Ayeka hadn't had to go back to Jurai.  I miss her.  She was good at greeting guests."

"I miss her too Sasami.  But at least she'll be spending her vacations here.  Now, let's go see what these people want."

*****

Detective First Class Makibi Kiyone watched from the co-pilot's seat as her counterpart brought Yagami in for a smooth planetfall over the lake outside the Masaki residence.  She was always glad to see that red roof come into view.  It was a place she always felt welcome.

"Very nice landing.  You say your Mihoshi always manages to hit the water?"

"That's what they tell me.  In our world Mihoshi is the only officer assigned to Earth.  I run my own department at headquarters," Colonel Makibi Kiyone replied.  "Washu is always having to fix her ship, the Yukinojo."

The other Kiyone sighed with jealousy, "And you two are still partners?"

"No, we used to be, but not anymore.  She's still my friend though." The green-banded Kiyone replied.  "I'm lowering the ramp, you and your Mihoshi should probably debark first."  She pointed to a monitor.  "See, Tenchi and Sasami are waiting."

The red-banded Kiyone looked and saw Tenchi, Sasami and the two wooden Guardians patiently waiting on the deck.  "Ok.  I'll signal when it's safe for all of you to come out."

"Safe?"

"Well, when I've got them prepared for you anyway," red Kiyone replied with a chuckle.  She stood up and left the control cabin to gather up her Mihoshi and greet her friends.

*****

Tenchi watched as two figures appeared at the top of the ramp.  As they descended he could make out the faces of Kiyone and Mihoshi.  Mihoshi was the same as always, bouncy and giggly but Kiyone had an odd look on her face.

"Hey!  What's up you two?  Where's Yagami?  Did you get a new ship or something?" he asked as they got to the bottom of the ramp.

"Tenchi, this _is_ Yagami.  Kinda.  Uh, there's something I need to explain…" Kiyone started.

"Oh Tenchi, Sasami!  You'll never believe who's on that ship," Mihoshi gushed.

"Shut up Mihoshi," Kiyone said.

"But…"

"Mihoshi, I said shut up.  I'll explain it."

"All right Kiyone," Mihoshi pouted.

Kiyone continued, "Tenchi, Sasami, there's some people I'd like you to meet."  She gestured back up the ramp.  

A striking red headed woman appeared and started down, followed by a young dark-haired girl.  Tenchi noted that the woman bore a more than passing resemblance to Ryoko.

"Tenchi, this is…" Kiyone began.

"She's Ryoko's mother!" finished Mihoshi.

"Ryoko's… M… mom?" stuttered Tenchi.

"Mihoshi, I told you to be quiet.  I'll do the introductions."

The woman bowed.  "Hello Lord Tenchi," she said in a husky voice.  "This young lady is Skuld, my student.  And I am Washu.  Pleased to meet you."

Tenchi's jaw dropped.  "Your name is Washu?  How odd, we have another Washu here already."

"Yes, I know."  She crooked a finger back at the ship.  Another woman appeared at the head of the ramp and started down.

Sasami started to run up the ramp. "MOTHER!" she cried, throwing herself into the woman's arms.

"No Sasami.  I'm not Mother," the woman quietly told the little girl.

"Ay… Ayeka?" the princess looked up with tear-filled eyes.

Ayeka nodded and hugged her close.

"What happened to your hair?" Sasami asked, her face buried in Ayeka's shoulder.

"I don't understand," said Tenchi, scratching the back of his head.  "Ayeka's supposed to be on Jurai…"

"She is," said the woman named Washu.  "Watch…" She gestured again.  A familiar spikey-haired girl appeared and started floating down the ramp.

"Ryoko?"  Tenchi said.  "What's going on here?"

"Wait Tenchi," Washu gestured and a male figure stepped out, taking Ryoko's hand.   "I LOVE dramatic entrances!" Washu cackled.  

The two started down the ramp, pausing at Ayeka and Sasami.  Ayeka stood up, still holding Sasami and took the man's other hand.

"Masaki Tenchi," said Kiyone as the group reached the bottom of the ramp, "I'd like you to meet Masaki Tenchi and his wives, Masaki Ayeka and Masaki Ryoko."

Tenchi was stunned.  Just what the hell was going on here?  In a daze he bowed to his counterpart and his wives.  "Uh, pleased to meet you?"

Five more figures were making their way down the ramp, three human and two cabbit.  He glanced up at them, recognizing Sasami, Kiyone, Mihoshi and Ryo-ohki."  It was too much for his overloaded brain.

Ryoko leapt forward, "Quick!  Someone help me carry him into the house."

"Azaka, Kamidake.  Take Lord Tenchi into the house," Ayeka ordered.

"Yes Princess," the logs both replied.

"Uh, which one?" asked Azaka.

"Probably the one that can't get there under his own power," answered Kamidake.

"Oh.  Right."

*****

The two groups had gathered in the living room of the Masaki house.  Tenchi was lying on the couch with his head in Ryoko's lap while she fanned his forehead.  The two Sasami's were playing snatch-the-carrot with the two Ryo-ohki's and Ay-ohki.  Everyone else was seated or standing wherever a space was available.  Ayeka sat in her Tenchi's lap on the floor while their Ryoko snuggled against them.  Little Washu stood behind the couch while Big Washu tried to explain why they were searching for cabbits.

"So you see, we need to find out how they got to our reality and to stop it from ever happening again," Big Washu explained.  "I've scanned several realities and only a few have more than one cabbit.  This one was the closest to our own, so we started here."

"Well," Little Washu said, "I know that I didn't create them.  They've been around a lot longer than me."

"I'm pretty sure your Ryo-ohki will scan out the same as ours.  What we need is another cabbit to test.  Any ideas?" Big Washu asked.

"Well," started Little Washu, "there's always…"

Ryoko-without-gems looked up from where she'd been caressing her Tenchi's cheek, "No way!  Not her!  I never want to see that woman again.  As far as I know, she thinks I'm dead and I want it to stay that way."

"What are you talkin' about?" asked the other Ryoko.  "What woman?"

Little Washu spoke up.  "Oh, her and a bounty hunter named Nagi have been at it for years.  Neither one ever seems to come out on top.  When we uh, invaded Jurai a few months back Nagi helped us, but Ryoko here was badly wounded.  Afterwards she disappeared, presumed dead; everyone, _including_ Nagi, searched for her for weeks." She gave her Ryoko a glare.  "Then one day she showed up here, completely healed.  And she won't tell us what happened."

"It's none of your damned business, that's why." Ryoko growled.

_Why won't you tell them Ryoko? _ came a voice in her head.  _Was it that unpleasant? _

Ryoko looked around the room, "What the hell?"  Her eyes landed on Big Washu who was watching her intently.  "You!  You're in my head!  I don't like it, get out."

The other Ryoko started laughing.  "Get used to it.  Mom doesn't take no for an answer very often.  Must be the goddess part of her."

"The WHAT?" came from several people at once.

"Oh.  Yeah.  We haven't told you about that part yet." Ryoko-with-gems grinned.  "Ya see, Mom there is one of the two lost Juraian goddesses, although we've recently found them again.  Even she didn't know it for the last 20,000 years.  And Skuld over there is a goddess to, but she's an Earth goddess."

Ryoko-without-gems looked over at Skuld, who waved back with a grin.  "Really.  Show me something goddesslike."

Skuld pointed her hand toward Ryoko and concentrated.  The word "LOVER" appeared on Ryoko's T-shirt.

She looked down at her chest.  "That's it?  That's all you can do?  There're shops in the mall that can do that.  Jeez, some goddess you are kid," she laughed.

Skuld began to growl and a small device appeared in her hand.  "Skuld Bomb Aw…"

Everybody who knew Skuld dived for cover.  On Big Washu's forehead a triangular symbol began to glow.  She held out her hand, stopping the young goddess in mid-sentence.

"Skuld?  What have I told you about that temper?" she asked.

Skuld's hand dropped to her side, the device disappearing.  She looked down at the floor.  "Sorry Professor Washu.  I forgot."

"And?"

"And I'm sorry I got mad at you Ryoko," Skuld apologized.

Ryoko-without-gems looked around at everyone.  "What the hell just happened?"

*****

"So, you think our best bet is to start on Jurai then?" Big Washu asked Little Washu.

"Yep.  If there are any other cabbits besides Ryo-ohki and Ken-ohki they should be in the records there," Little Washu answered.  "Going back 90,000 years, well there's no computer records back that far so it's musty old books for you."

Big Washu grimaced.  "Oh, come on.  I know they had computers, I have the cores from the ship the cabbits were on."

Little Washu laughed at her, "Sure they did.  And we have computers here on Earth too.  Do you know how much data is still written down in log books and ledgers here?"

Big Washu thought for a second.  "Hmmm.  Point taken.  I guess we'll leave in the morning."

Little Washu stared out the living room window to where Ayeka and the two Sasami's were sitting on the deck talking.  "I have a feeling that Sasami and Tenchi will want to go with you to visit the Empress.  And if Tenchi goes Ryoko goes as well."

"How about you?" wondered Big Washu.

Little Washu sighed, "No, I think I'll stay here this time.  I'm still not welcome at the Academy and on Jurai, although Ayeka's working to change that.  Will you all fit into Yagami?"

Big Washu shook her head.  "No, not comfortably.  Our Ryoko, Tenchi and Ayeka will probably end up in Ryo-ohki for the trip.  Your group can return in their Ryo-ohki when we move on.  Your Kiyone and Mihoshi'll be staying here as well.  They wanted to come with us but the GP wouldn't give them time off."

"Tell me, what's it like being a goddess?" Little Washu asked, changing the subject.

Big Washu laughed uncomfortably.  "It's like having all the power in the universe and all the responsibility.  I wouldn't wish it on anyone else."

"Well, I'll never know I guess.  I'm not a goddess in this reality."

"Little Washu, look at me," Big Washu said.

The smaller scientist turned around.  Big Washu put her palm on the smaller one's forehead.  Little Washu felt a surge of power flow into her.

"What did you just do?" she asked, stepping back.

"I gave you a small amount of my power.  Oh, not much, just a taste.  Not much more than your Ryoko has, but still...  It's yours now, forever, and it can only grow larger with time.  Use it wisely my friend."  Big Washu turned and walked out of the room leaving her stunned double behind.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Well, it's on to Jurai and Ayeka.  How will she react when she sees two Tenchi's?  Of course there're two Ryoko's and another Ayeka now as well.


	6. Wherever You Go, There You Are - Part 3

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 6

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

Part 3

*****

Ayeka, Empress of Jurai paced restlessly from room to room in her suite.  She didn't know what was going on, the cryptic message from Washu only said that the gang was coming for a visit and for her to be prepared for a surprise.  _A surprise! _ she snorted mentally.  _Did Tenchi and Ryoko get married?  Is that pirate pregnant?  Did Kiyone get a promotion away from Mihoshi?  What could possibly surprise me? _

*****

The Empress watched as the great silver form of the GP cruised settled into the landing bay.  _Looks like they got a new ship.  I hope that's not the surprise. _  The ship's ramp lowered and Kiyone and Mihoshi started down.  She moved forward to meet them.  Bowing her head gracefully to her friends she said "Detective Makibi, Detective Kuramitsu, It is nice to see you again."  Then losing all decorum she ran forward to give them both a hug.  "Kiyone!  Mihoshi!  It's been so long…"

"Uh, Your Highness, it's not quite what you think…" said Kiyone.

"Kiyone, you don't need to be so formal with me.  We've been through quite a lot together."  Ayeka laughed.

"Well, actually your highness, we haven't.  Allow me to introduce my partner and myself.  I'm _Colonel_ Makibi Kiyone and this is _Lieutenant_ Kuramitsu Mihoshi.  And we're not quite who you think we are…" Kiyone began to explain.

Ayeka was only half listening as she looked up the ramp to see the rest of the party descending.  There was Sasami, with Ryo-ohki perched on her head as usual, Tenchi and of course Ryoko, a tall redhead that reminded her of Washu, a young dark-haired girl with strange facial tattoos, and of course Sasami.  _Wait a second, _ she thought, _something's wrong with this picture. _  She looked closer.  Sasami?  Check.  Ryo-ohki?  Ok.  Tenchi and Ryoko?  Yep.  Woman and girl?  Ok.  Sasami?  Ah ha!  _I counted Sasami twice…  No, there are two Sasami's.  TWO Sasami's? _  A look of confusion came into her eyes.

Just then a port official came running up to her.

"Highness…" he gasped, out of breath from his sprint.  "Ryo-ohki is in orbit requesting landing clearance…"

"That's imposs…" she looked again at the two Sasami's, now standing at the bottom of the ramp smiling at her, Ryo-ohki sitting on the head of one of them.

"Um, Highness, I suggest you let them land.  There's no telling what Ryoko'll do if you don't, let alone the princess nowadays.  If either one really, really gets mad…" said Mihoshi.

Ryoko?  Princess?  She looked at the group again, realization washing over her.  She turned to the official.  "Let them land.  We will greet them."  She eyed the group.  "All of us."

*****

"So, in your reality you both married Tenchi?"  Empress Ayeka asked her counterpart.  "Is that allowed?  How unusual."  They had all gathered back in the Empress' suite after some awkward introductions and apologies had been made.

Princess Ayeka nodded, "Yes, among our Jurai Royal Family it is.  But the union has still to go through a formal ceremony on Jurai before the Holy Council recognizes it.  That's just a formality though, the relationship's already been consummated."  She smiled at her Ryoko and Tenchi.

The Empress sighed.  "I wish it were so here.  It would have made our lives much easier, eh Ryoko?" she asked her Space Pirate.

"I dunno Ayeka, I rather like having Tenchi to myself," she replied, giving Tenchi a hug and causing him to turn bright red.

"Who says he's yours?  You're not even engaged yet."

"I thought you gave up," sneered Ryoko.

"Then you don't know me very well, do you?" snarled Ayeka.

"Oh yeah?" the pirate said, energy beginning to crackle between her hands.

"Yeah!" said the Empress, small logs appearing around her.

"Girls!  Girls!" yelled both Tenchi's.

"They really are the best of friends you know," said one Sasami to the other.

"Yeah, I know," answered the other one.

*****

Sasami wandered from Tree to Tree in the great nursery looking for one in particular.  She didn't know why, but something told her she had to find it.  She turned to her double.

"Which of these is Tsunami?  This is different from our nursery."

"Tsunami?  The Goddess Tree?" the other asked, "Over this way I think.  We're not allowed in here often, only for bonding ceremonies and I haven't bonded yet."  She led the other Sasami to a great Tree tucked into a niche at the rear of the nursery.  "Here.  This is Tsunami's Tree, but no one has ever been able to bond with it.  They say the goddess that created the Jurai Royal Family resides in this Tree."

Sasami ran her hands over the Tree's smooth bark and smiled.  Yes, this was it.  "Would you like to meet her?" she asked.

"Meet her?  The goddess?  Oh, that's just an old legend," scoffed this reality's Sasami.

"No, it isn't," came the quiet reply.  Sasami placed both hands on the Tree and concentrated.

"Little ones.  What can I do for you?" Tsunami's smiling form appeared before them.  "Princess Sasami, I know you.  And this other…  Ah.  It is myself from another reality.  I sensed a disturbance in space/time and this explains it.  Sister, you may call on me if needed."

Sasami looked at the apparition with wide eyes.  "Are you really the goddess Tsunami?" she asked in wonder.

"Yes, as is this other.  But different."  She smiled benignly at the two.  "In one year return to this place Princess Sasami, and I will bond with you.  We will become like this other; together, yet apart.  In one year…"  The vision faded.

"Wow!" was all that Sasami could manage.

*****

"Professor Washu?" asked the goddess Skuld, "What exactly are we looking for in these old books?"  She sneezed as she opened yet another dusty volume.  "I mean, I know we're looking for any mention of strange animals that can transform into giant spaceships, but really…"  She sneezed again.

"We're trying to find the earliest record of cabbits.  I mean, we've already found that there've been others over the millennia, but we need to find out _when_ they first appeared," the red headed scientist replied.  "I won't know for sure until I get more data, but I have a sneaking feeling that they showed up about 90,000 years ago.  And that they didn't come from this reality either."

"But Washu…" Skuld saw the look on her mentor's face.  "I know, I know, keep looking."  She buried her face in the book and sneezed.

*****

Empress Ayeka had found time to be alone with Princess Ayeka.  She had some questions that she wanted to ask the princess and she didn't want anyone else to overhear.  They were seated in the drawing room of her suite sipping tea.

"So princess, what's it like being married to Ryoko?" the Empress asked.

Ayeka took a sip of tea before answering.  "Not as bad as you might think.  Both of us have matured greatly since the wedding.  Once we didn't have Tenchi to fight over we discovered we had much in common.  I suspect it would be the same with you and your Ryoko.  She really is a nice person you know."

The Empress snorted, "Ryoko?  She asked Tenchi to abandon me to Kagato and fly off with her."

"How odd," the princess gave the Empress a quizzical look.  "My Ryoko actually risked her life to save me from our Kagato, and then Tenchi had to save _her_.  And didn't your Ryoko say something to me about the time you two spent together searching for Tenchi when he disappeared with that Haruna woman's ghost?"

The Empress blushed.  "Yes, I suppose that's true.  We did get along very well during that period."

"And what was different about that time?" the princess asked, trying to draw the answer she already knew out the Empress.

"I'm not sure what you mean," the other replied.

"What was missing?  What were or weren't you two doing then?" Ayeka asked again.

"Well, we weren't fighting over Tenchi that's for certain.  We were too busy looking for him."

"Exactly.  And it's the same with us.  Once Tenchi was removed from the equation we discovered that we were actually friends," the princess said with satisfaction.

"He chose her you know," the Empress said in a low voice.

"And this bothers you," the princess stated.

Tears crept into the Empress' voice.  "Yes.  I still love him.  I have many suitors as Empress, but none will replace him.  It hurts when I see him and Ryoko together."

"Were you happy on Earth?  Even after he chose her?" Ayeka asked her counterpart.

"Yes, oh yes!" came the tearful reply.

Ayeka smiled, knowing exactly how the Empress was going to take her next words.  "Abdicate," she said.

"WHAT?"

"Give up the throne.  Give it to Sasami, or a cousin or one of the nobles that you trust.  Go back and live with them; I think you'll find that they'll both accept you as just Ayeka.  We're not that different after all."

"What about my people?  What would they say?" the Empress wondered.

"What about Ayeka?  What does _she_ need?  Talk it over with them, I think you'll find them receptive to the idea; after all, they've had a chance to see how happy the three of us are…" the princess returned.

The Empress cleared her throat.  "Speaking of which, are you and Ryoko, you know…"

"Lovers?" the princess laughed.  "We weren't at first, although neither of us were ever dead set against it; but our cabbits have forced the issue."

"And what does your Tenchi think about it?" the Empress asked.

"Actually, I think he's relieved.  It gives him a break once in a while," the princess said with a grin.

The Empress smiled back.  "I've been meaning to ask you something ever since you arrived."

"Oh?  And what might that be?" the princess inquired.

"What happened to your hair?  I sort of like it that way…"

*****

"Hey guys!  We found something!" Skuld yelled as she and Washu entered the dining room.

Mihoshi looked up from her dinner.  "What?  What did you find?  Boy, are you two dirty.  Yuck!"

"Never mind that now," said Washu, sliding into a seat and reaching for the salad.  "We think we found the planet the cabbits first appeared on.  We had to go waaay back though; there's been no contact with it for at least 95,000 years.  That fits our timeframe since I was never able to pin down an exact date on the derelict ship."

"So, when are we leavin'" asked Ryoko-with-gems.

"Oh, not for a few days," answered her mother between mouthfuls of food.  "This is good, we were so deep into the books we missed lunch."

"Why so long Miss Washu?" asked the Empress.

"Tryin' to get rid of us, eh?  Well, 95,000 years is a long time.  We have to calculate the current position of the planet.  It may even be known by another name now.  Happens sometimes, people just get tired of a name…"  Washu took a bite of steak.  "Good stuff, can't get food like this at home you know."

"We wanna go with you guys," said Ryoko-without-gems, "right Tenchi?"

"Uh…" was the reply.

"Oh come on.  It'll be fun, roaming the galaxy again.  Please?" she pleaded.

"How about you Sasami?" the Empress asked her sister.

"I'll stay here with you for a while, sister.  You guys can pick me up on the way back, right?" she asked Washu.

"Sure thing.  We have to bring Tenchi and Ryoko back anyway," the scientist replied.

"Can't they use Ryo-ohki?" asked Sasami-with-two-dots.

"They could, but we don't know how far we'll be going and Ryo-ohki is pretty short-range for some trips.  Best they travel with us little one."

"Besides," said Ryoko-without-gems, "Our Ryo-ohki wants to stay here with you, don't you furball?"

"Miya!" the cabbit agreed.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Ok, I've finally made Ryoko and Ayeka a pair. (Kind of, but you knew it was coming eventually, didn't you?)  Nagi has yet to appear, but she will; and someone makes another special guest appearance to try to throw a monkey wrench into Washu's plans.

Review Responses

DennisuD – I'm working on a plot device to get them into the manga universe.  It isn't one they would be visiting by choice as it only has the one cabbit.  I don't think I'll use Yume or any of the Ryuten stuff; too complex for these short chapters.  I definitely want to use Minagi though.  She's a fun character, what Ryoko could have been if not for Kagato.  Hmmm.  Now that I think about it, maybe it would be better to draw Minagi to them.  Think about it… two Ryoko's, Minagi and Nagi all in the same place…  Oh, what fun!

Taelyn – Ayeka's hair is going to be something of an on-going issue (read: side joke) in the different realities they visit, and maybe afterwards as well.

Priest – Oh, I will keep it up.  I already know what Tsunami has in mind for our hapless trio a few millennia into the future.  It's the space between that I have to fill up.  I may follow H. Beam Piper's lead (not the suicide part of course) and write just a story or two from each epoch.  No Fuzzies though…


	7. Wherever You Go, There You Are - Part 4

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 7

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

Part 4

*****

In Washu's lab back in the "home" reality a being appeared in a flicker of darkness.  A benign smile on his lips and an evil glint in his partially closed eyes, he walked over to the control panel of one of the many machines.  Silently he manipulated the controls, then flipped a switch.  _Heh.  That should do it, _ he thought.  _Now to just sit back and watch the fun begin.  Poor Washu. _  Another dark flicker and he was gone.

In another part of the lab a goddess was feeding some fish.  Since this was not the type of job a goddess of her stature normally did, she was making a real mess of it.  Fortunately for the fish, they only required feeding once in a great while.  They would last until their master returned.  The goddess suddenly felt a disturbance.  She looked up from her task and scanned the room for the source.  The feeling passed, and not immediately seeing the cause, Tokimi shrugged and turned her attention back to the fish.  Her sister Washu had names for them all and there was one that Tokimi really liked to watch.  She couldn't quite remember its name though. W… W… Wendy?  No, that wasn't it.  Oh well, the damn things never came when you called them anyway.

In a reality not too far separated from Washu's lab, a portal opened in front of a speeding starship.  By the time the ship's cyan haired pilot noticed it was there, it was too late.  The ship entered the portal and vanished without a trace.

*****

"Mihoshi, how much longer until we're there?" asked Sasami.

The blonde GP Lieutenant looked confused, which was quite similar to her normal expression.  "Gee, I dunno Sasami.  We crossed the Jurai border about two hours ago.  Do you know Washu?"

Washu and Ayeka were playing a local variant of Juraian chess on a holographic board across the lounge.  Ayeka had just put the scientist's Emperor in jeopardy and Washu was trying to figure out a valid move without losing. 

"Damn it," she said as she tipped her piece, conceding yet another game to the princess.  "What was that Mihoshi?"

Sasami asked her question again, this time to Washu.

Washu chuckled.  _Typical kid, _ she thought before answering.  "At our current speed, about two days dear," she replied.

*****

Ryoko-with-gems spared with her double in Yagami's cargo hold as their respective Tenchi's looked on.  Bringing her energy blade around in a sweeping arc, she grinned as the other teleported out of range just before contact.  So far the two had been evenly matched, as expected.  But Ryoko hadn't played her last card yet.  She'd never done it before and now that she had all three gems…

Back in the lounge Washu and Ayeka's new game was interrupted as Washu's symbol began to glow and light began to shine from under the princess' tiara.  Their heads both snapped up at the same time.

"What the hell?" cursed Washu as she and the princess dashed for the door.

In the cargo hold both Tenchi's watched awestruck as the very air seemed to solidify in front of Ryoko-with-gems.

"Ryoko!  No!" yelled one of the Tenchi's as he realized what she was doing.  He leapt up and formed his Juraian battle armor.

But it was too late; Ryoko's Lighthawk Wings had finished forming.  With a gesture she sent the other Ryoko flying backwards into a bulkhead, leaving a large dent in the durasteel before falling to the floor stunned.  Exhausted, Ryoko let her Wings collapse before tumbling to the deck herself.

Washu and Ayeka charged into the hold to find both Tenchi's cradling a Ryoko in their arms.  One of the Tenchi's was in Juraian armor.

"Tenchi!  What did you do?  What happened here?" Washu yelled as she ran to her daughter.

Tenchi looked up as she approached.  "It wasn't me Washu," he said.  "It was Ryoko.  She formed the Lighthawk Wings herself.  How could she do that?"

Washu looked down at her daughter, who grinned weakly back at her.  "Lady Funaho and I have always suspected that she had the power as long as she controlled the gems.  But I didn't think…"  Washu's eyes got all bright and starry.  "Oh honey, your mommy's sooo proud of you."  She leaned down to give Ryoko a kiss on the forehead.  "And if you ever, _ever_ do anything like this again, Little Ryoko, I'll ground you for life…"

"Yes, mommy," said a dazed Ryoko.

*****

Fortunately neither Ryoko had been injured in the incident and apologies were made, then Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka spent some time explaining the concept of the Lighthawk Wings to the other two.

"So you say these 'Wings' are primarily a defensive shield?  Sure didn't look that way to me," said Tenchi #2.

"Well, in some cases they can become very powerful offensive weapons.  Tenchi has used his as such once before, and my ship was able to form an energy discharge using its Wings during our battle with _our_ Kagato.  But that's not their primary use," Ayeka explained.

Ryoko-without-gems looked at Ayeka.  "Can you make those things too?" she asked.

Ayeka looked down at the floor.  "No, I don't think I can…" she answered.

Washu snickered from across the room.  "Oh, I believe you can, if you tried hard enough.  I mean, look; Tenchi can do it, right?  And now Ryoko can too.  You three were drawn together so it stands to reason that the third part of the trio _must_ have the same abilities as the other two.  Doesn't it?"

"I suppose so Miss Washu.  But I'm afraid to try," responded Ayeka.

"A demon afraid to use power?"  Washu chuckled.  "Ayeka, you really surprise me.  I'm glad you're you; any other demon, Mara for instance, would be reveling at the chance to use a power like the Wings.  Well, to each their own I suppose."

Tenchi #2 turned to the scientist, "Washu, do you think that we could use that power as well?"

Washu looked as him quizzically.  "Hmm.  I don't know.  I don't have my instruments here…  Wait, let me try something."  She closed her eyes and her goddess symbol appeared on her forehead.  "Ahhh."  She opened her eyes.  "Yes, I think you can; both you and your Ryoko.  But it'll take much training and practice.  My Tenchi had a distinct advantage in that Tsunami implanted the knowledge into him during the battle with Kagato.  You'll have to learn it on your own.  And remember, Ryoko's Wings were the first to be formed in this reality.  The power feedback was what weakened her so much.  It'll happen to you too the first few times you're successful.  If you succeed that is."

*****

Not far ahead on Yagami's current heading energy began to crackle in space, seemingly from nowhere.  Out of the center of the energy field a ship emerged, drifting almost powerless, it's cyan haired pilot unconscious from the stress of being transported across the realities.

Slowly instruments in the cockpit began to illuminate and come back online.  The pilot moaned, shook her head and opened her golden eyes.

"Hinase, status," she called.

"Power at 10% and climbing.  Weapons and defensive shielding are currently offline.  Communications are online, but there's no one to talk to.  We will have power to move in about five minutes.  Our position is unknown, we are currently somewhere outside Juraian space," the ship's main unit replied.

"Any idea what happened to us?" the pilot asked.

"We seem to have been instantly transported some 1376 light-years from our last position.  As I said, we are well outside the space currently mapped by Jurai.  I calculate it will take us approximately one month at full speed to return to Earth from here.  Two weeks to Jurai and one week to Juraian space."

"At full speed."

"Yes."

The pilot closed her eyes and sighed in frustration.  "How long before our sensors are working?"

"Short-range sensors are online.  Long-range sensors are coming up as we speak.  Oh my!" the ship exclaimed.

"What?  What is it?" she asked.

"There is another ship approaching us.  It scans as a GP patrol cruiser.  I wonder what they're doing out here."

"Oh, goody.  Hail them please," the pilot commanded.

"You do know that you're still wanted for space piracy, right?" the ship called Hinase came back.

"It's not like we have much choice, is it?"

"No, I suppose not," the ship said submissively.

*****

Mihoshi was watching a tape of her favorite TV show on one of the monitors when the comm panel began flashing.

_Oh my! _ she thought.  _Who would be calling us way out here? _  She sat up straight in the pilot's chair, spilling the popcorn she'd been munching on.  _OH!  Kiyone's gonna kill meee!  She said no food in the control cabin. _  She pushed the intercom button to the cabin she'd been sharing with Kiyone for the trip because Washu and Skuld were using hers.  "Kiyone, we have an incoming message," she called.

"Who's it from Mihoshi?  I was in the shower." the image of a naked Kiyone wrapping a towel around herself appeared on the screen.

"I dunno.  It's pretty short-range though," the blonde replied.

"Well, answer it.  I'll get dressed and be there in a couple of minutes."  The GP Colonel cut the connection.

"Answer it, answer it.  Ok.  And I've got to clean up this popcorn."  Mihoshi punched a button on the comm panel then bent over to scoop up the spilled kernels.

"Hello?" came over the speakers.  "Is anyone there?"

Mihoshi finished putting the popcorn back into the bowl and popped her head up.  "Oh.  Hi.  Can I help you?" she asked.

"Oh, there you are!" came the voice, which had a familiar ring to it.  "Can you turn on your visual so I can see you?"

"Sure," answered the blonde, "just a sec."  She dumped the popcorn into the disposal chute and pushed another button.  "How's that?"

A smiling face appeared on the screen.

"Mihoshi!  Is it really you?  I thought I recognized your voice!  What are you doing way out here?" the face asked with a look of joy.

"Ryoko?  Bu… but aren't you already here?  Twice?  Are there three of you now?" the GP wondered.

The face of the other pilot expressed consternation, "I'm not Ryoko, Mihoshi.  It's me, Minagi.  And what do you mean 'three'?"

"Um… Do I know you?" asked GP Lieutenant Mihoshi, scratching her head.

Kiyone came striding into the cabin.  She looked at the screen, then at her partner.  "Mihoshi!  You made me get out of the shower to talk to Ryoko?  And what's Ryoko doing off the ship anyway?"

"Excuse me," came the voice from the speakers.

Kiyone paid no attention as she continued chewing out Mihoshi.

"I SAID EXCUSE ME!"

Kiyone looked up at the screen.  "What do you want?  Get back on the damn ship, and which Ryoko are you anyway?"

"I'M NOT RYOKO!"

"STOP YELLING!  And what do you mean you're not Ryoko.  Who are you if you're not her?"

"I'm Minagi.  And who are YOU?"

"I am Colonel Makibi Kiyone, Galaxy Police.  And you look just like our favorite space pirates.  Both of them."  Kiyone sagged into the pilot's chair.  She felt something sticky on the armrest.  Lifting her hand to her nose, she sniffed.  _Butter? _  She gave Mihoshi a look.  _I don't even want to know… _

"Listen Colonel, I'm kinda stuck out here.  Do you think you can give me a lift?" the woman who looked like Ryoko and wasn't asked.

Kiyone glanced at the sensor screen.  "Yeah.  We'll be at your position in about four minutes.  I think Washu'll want to talk to you anyway…"

"Little Washu's with you?  And you said there are two Ryoko's, I don't understand…" Minagi replied, puzzled.

Kiyone gave her a weak smile.  "It's kinda hard for me to work with too.  See you in a few…"  She cut the connection.  "Mihoshi?"

"Yes Kiyone," Mihoshi asked meekly.

"Prepare Yagami for docking and a tow.  And get this mess cleaned up."  She held up her fingers, butter dripping down her palm.

"Yes Kiyone, Colonel Ma'am."

"Now, Mihoshi."  Kiyone said sternly, then turned and left the room before she broke into laughter, on her way to break the news to the others that another Ryoko type would be joining them.

*****

Once again the group was gathered in the lounge, this time to meet the new arrival.  Both Ryoko's stared at the newcomer while Minagi kept her head down, wishing she could hide from all the scrutiny.  The only person missing was Washu.

"Are you Ryoko's sister?" Sasami innocently asked Minagi.

"Well…  Kinda.  Ryoko's more like my mom though," was the quiet reply.

Sasami looked at Ryoko-without-gems.  "So, you're her mom?"

"Get real.  I've never seen her before." Ryoko snorted.

Sasami turned to the other Ryoko.

"Not me kiddo.  The only kids I want are with Tenchi."  She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"They're both right," came Washu's voice from the doorway.  "Our visitor isn't from either one of our realities."  She walked over to Minagi, touching her on the shoulder.  "But I've seen you before, when I was scanning the realities for cabbits.  There's only Ryo-ohki in your reality, like in ours.  In fact, your reality's _very_ close to ours in the scheme of things, the biggest difference being you.  The question however is, how'd _you_ get _here_?"

Ryoko-with-gems spoke up, "Wait Washu.  I wanna know why she thinks one of us is her mom."

"Ah, ah, ah, Little Ryoko.  First things first!" Turning back to Minagi the scientist asked, "Now, tell us how you got here please."

Minagi sighed deeply and looked at each person in the room before answering.  "I don't really know.  Hinase and I were just minding our own business and suddenly a portal opened in space.  The next thing I know, here I am and here you all are."

"A portal?" Washu wondered aloud.

"Yeah," Minagi agreed,  "you know, sorta like one of your subspace pockets.  A big dark spot in the middle of nowhere."

Washu tapped a finger on her chin, "One of my pockets?  Hmmm.  I wonder if Tokimi…  Nah, she wouldn't touch anything she doesn't understand.  I think.  Anything else you remember?"

Minagi tilted her head back against the bulkhead.  "Well, as we entered the portal I thought I heard laughter, male laughter.  But it was probably just my imagination."

Washu looked over at Skuld.  "Your uncle, Loki.  I don't suppose…"

Skuld shook her head.  "Nope.  Father suspended his license for the next 150 years.  He can't open a portal or travel the dimensions until then."

"Well, then I don't…" she suddenly blanched.  "No.  It couldn't be.  He has to be _invited_ damnit."  Then she remembered what Tokimi had told her about that night over the lake.  "Sonovabitch!  She _did_ invite him!"  Deep within her head she heard a muted chuckling that slowly faded away.  _XELLOS YOU BASTARD!  Two can play the practical jokes game, just you wait! _

_I look forward to it My Lady Washu.  You know where to find me, _came the soft response in her head.

*****

Author's Notes

For those that haven't read the manga's, Minagi considers Ryoko her "mother" because she was created with some of Ryoko's DNA that one of Washu's students, a Juraian named Yakage, stole during Ryoko's creation; much the same way Washu created Ryoko from her own DNA.  Yakage mixed in some of his own DNA as well, thus Minagi is also Yakage's "daughter".  Washu however considers Minagi to be a younger sister to Ryoko.  Minagi is a "good" space pirate; she only loots "bad" ships.  She looks exactly like her "mother" except she has a large crescent-shaped scar (or tattoo, I can't tell) on each cheek.  She also has all of Ryoko's powers and a somewhat childish sense of humor and outlook on life along with a bouncy personality.  And she's not particularly attracted to Tenchi although she considers him a friend.

I've got the next (and hopefully last) chapter in this reality not quite half done.  I was going to include it here making this a long chapter, but that's what it would have been, a looong chapter.  I try to keep them between 6 to 10 pages in Word 2000.  Anyway, I hope to be totally finished with it in a few days, depending on what else comes up.  I still have to write two Midterms for my students by 12/19.  I really want to finish up here and move on to the next reality, there are three more (two original) that I want to visit.

Review Reponses

Priest – Did you get that e-mail I sent with Ayeka's picture?  I hope it gives you some idea of what her hair looks like.


	8. Wherever You Go, There You Are - Part 5

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 8

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

Part 5

*****

"Kiyone," came Mihoshi's voice from the intercom, "I think we're being followed."

Colonel Makibi Kiyone sighed in resignation as she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.  This was really getting to be a habit of her partner's; she hadn't been able to finish a shower in days.  Not that her cybernetic body ever sweated or anything, but the hot water felt good and it was one of the pleasures she'd missed in her old body.  That, the taste of food, and ...  But best not to dwell on that, her boyfriend was light-years and universes away.

"Ok Mihoshi, I'll be right there," she called toward the intercom pickup.  She'd learned not to activate the video anymore.  Not that she minded her partner seeing her naked, they'd been roommates at the academy for a while after all, but once one of the Tenchi's had been in the control room when Mihoshi called.  He'd immediately gotten a nosebleed when she activated the screen.  She quickly got dressed and headed for the control room.  She really hoped it wasn't yet another Ryoko.

Entering the cabin Kiyone gestured for Mihoshi to let her sit in the pilot's chair.  Moving over to the copilot/sensor operator's position, Mihoshi turned on her repeater screen.  She pointed to an intermittent flash that was following the same trajectory as Yagami.

"There," said the blonde, "it started showing about ten minutes ago."

"Sensor ghost?" asked Kiyone, noticing how random the flash was.

Mihoshi gave her partner a cold look, a look Kiyone hadn't seen since before the accident.  "I think I know a ghost when I see one Kiyone," replied Mihoshi.  "If it were just a ghost I wouldn't have bothered you.  Wait…  There!  See?  Whatever it is it's close enough to occlude stars when it passes between us and them."

Kiyone was startled, for a second it almost seemed as if the old Mihoshi was back.

"Besides, if it were a ghost, wouldn't it yell 'BOO' or something?"  Mihoshi finished, causing Kiyone sag in her seat in despair.

*****

Kiyone had gathered everyone but Mihoshi in the lounge once again.  "Ok people, here's the deal.  We're less than an hour from planetfall and we seem to have picked up a tail.  We don't know if it's a Juraian just keeping an eye on us at the Empress's order or something else.  We have to assume it's something else.  Once we get dirtside keep your eyes open.  Princess Sasami, you and Mihoshi will be staying on Yagami.  We don't know what conditions are like below and Mihoshi should be able to give us advance warning if any happens up here.  If it's ok with you Ryoko, we'll fly Ryo-ohki down to the surface."

"I dunno, we'll have to ask her.  Ryo-ohki?" the pirate turned to her partner, who was cuddled with Ay-ohki under one of the tables.

"Miya, miyar!"

Ryoko smiled, "She say's no problem, she needs to stretch her legs a bit anyway."

"But why can't I go?" asked Sasami.  "I've been everywhere else on this trip with you guys."

"Because someone needs to help Mihoshi with the scanners," Kiyone told her.  "Besides, once we know it's safe, Mihoshi'll be bringing Yagami down anyway.  We're just the advance party."

"Oh, ok," said the princess.

Ayeka gave Kiyone a look that said she didn't approve of the white lie the Colonel had just told her sister.  But she kept her mouth shut about it.

*****

Yagami, with Hinase still in tow, entered orbit around the planet without further incident.  Washu used the ship's sensors to scan the surface, and what she found wasn't encouraging.

"Hmmph.  No sign of life above a basic bacterium.  Breathable atmosphere, although a bit on the dry side.  There's what appear to be ruins scattered all over the planet.  I'd say that the reason Jurai lost contact with this civilization was a civil war of some sort.  Looks like they wiped each other out and took their planet with them."  Washu shook her head in disgust.

Skuld spoke up, "Washu, didn't the book say something about a planetary capital?  Wouldn't that be a good place to start?"

Washu looked startled that she hadn't thought of that herself.  "Yeah.  In the northern hemisphere, right about… there.  Let's see… yep, a big mass of ruins at that location.  Ok, we've got a starting point.  Let's go."

*****

Ryo-ohki landed in a patch of desert outside of the ruined city.  After beaming the group onto the surface, she resumed her cabbit form and joined Ay-ohki in digging in the dirt.

Washu turned to her daughter, "Ryoko, I want you and Ryo-ohki to stay here and keep an eye on things.  We still haven't heard from that other ship, whoever it is."

"But mom…" whined the ex-pirate.

"Actually Ryoko, Washu's logic is sound," said Kiyone.  "Always keep your line of retreat open.  And since Ryo-ohki _is_ our line of retreat and she only listens to you..."

"She listens to Tenchi and Ayeka too…" Ryoko argued.

"Ryoko…" warned Washu.

"Ok, ok," Ryoko grumped, "I'll do it.  But next time _I_ get to go and someone else stays behind."

The group, sans Ryoko-with-gems, trudged off toward the ruins.

"Come Ay-ohki," called Ayeka, "leave Ryo-ohki alone for a while."

The small white cabbit scampered after her, pausing once to look back at his mate.

"Rya!" he called.

"Mieya!" answered Ryo-ohki.

He turned and ran off after his master.

*****

Aboard Yagami, Mihoshi sat in the pilot seat and Sasami sat in Mihoshi's normal position.  Both were monitoring events on the surface and didn't see the other ship flash past them until it was too late.

"What was that?" asked the blonde GP detective.

"I dunno," replied the princess, "it looked kinda like Ryo-ohki, except whitish and the spikes pointed the wrong way."

"We'd better warn the others," said Mihoshi, keying the comm panel.  All she got was static.  "I think we're being jammed, what do we do now?"

"We wait," answered Sasami.  "After all, who'd ever want to face more than one Ryoko?  And we've got three, counting Minagi."

*****

Ryoko stood in the desert and tossed small rocks at a boulder she could see about a kilometer from her.  Given her strength, more than a few actually made it that far and some even hit it.

"Hello Ryoko," came a husky voice from behind her.

The ex-pirate whirled around.  In front of her stood a tall woman with white hair, dressed in some sort of armor.

The woman uttered a low chuckle, "It's been a while.  I thought you were dead until Ryo-ohki showed up on Jurai with Sasami a few months ago.  Even then I wasn't sure until you were spotted there yourself.  Are you ready to finish our fight?"

"Do I know you?" Ryoko asked.

"You can't play that game with me.  We've both been around too long," the woman replied, starting forward.

Ryoko held up her hand, "Uh, whoever you are, I think you have the wrong person.  I don't think you know what your getting into here."

"Heh, I know _exactly_ what I'm getting into," the woman pulled out a power whip.

Ryoko shook her head, "I don't think you do, and I still don't know who you are.  But if you want a fight…"  She phased into her red and black battlesuit and energized her sword.  "Let's go."

"New outfit, I like it.  What's with the face paint?" the woman crouched in a ready position.

"If you like that, you're gonna love this…" Ryoko shot into the air, but her opponent was fast too.  The whip shot out, wrapping itself around her thigh and giving her a painful shock.

_Ah shit, that hurts, _ she broadcast unintentionally.  Tenchi, several kilometers away and several feet underground heard his wife's pain.

"Ryoko?" he said aloud.

"Tenchi, what's wrong?" asked his other wife.

"It's Ryoko.  She's fighting someone."  He concentrated for a second, looking through Ryoko's eyes.  "It's a woman with white hair and cheek tattoos.  She has her caught in some kind of whip."

"Damn," said Ryoko-without-gems.  "It's Nagi.  She's found us."  She teleported away to help her double.

Ayeka looked at her husband.  "Nagi?  That's the bounty hunter the Empress told us about. We have to go help her!"

Minagi reached out and grabbed Tenchi's arm.  "No, you stay here and help Washu," she said with a sly grin. "If she wants Ryoko, then let's give her to her.  All the Ryoko's."

Tenchi grinned back at the pirate.  "Great idea.  I wish I could see it.  But take Ayeka with you.  Just in case."

"Sure thing Tenchi!" with that Minagi grabbed the princess and teleported away herself.  This was going to be fun…

*****

Nagi had Ryoko on her knees.  _This is too easy, _ she thought.  _It's like she's never seen any of my moves before. _

"What's wrong with you Ryoko?  You've never fought this badly before," the bounty hunter asked.

"Ah, ah, ah," was the only reply.

Nagi heard a soft chuckle behind her.

"I wouldn't make her too mad if I were you Nagi," came Ryoko's voice.  "I'm still sore from my last match with her."

"Wha…?  Ryoko?" Nagi exclaimed, whirling to meet this new challenge.

"Heh.  Yep, and you've got the wrong one there.  I should warn you though, she's a lot more powerful than I am.  If you let her go, you're dead meat.  Of course if you don't let her go you're dead meat too."  Ryoko-without-gems formed her own energy sword.

"What the hell…" Nagi cried.

"Hey!  You can't start this party without us!" came Ryoko's voice from behind her again.  She pulled her blaster and pointed it at the Ryoko in front of her.  She now had one Ryoko in her whip and another at gunpoint.  Trying to keep an eye on the one at the end of her blaster, she turned her head to look at this new menace.  She saw another Ryoko along with the Juraian Empress.  But there was something different about both of them.

"Hello Empress Ayeka.  I like your hair.  Now step away from Ryoko, I don't know what's going on here, but I don't want to have to hurt you as well."

Ayeka snickered.  "I don't think you quite understand.  I'm not the Ayeka you think I am.  In fact I'm nothing like her at all.  Now, let my spouse go, or suffer the consequences."  The red glow began to show on the princess' forehead.

Nagi looked at the Ryoko she had trapped in her whip.  Spots on her neck and wrists were beginning to glow like Ayeka's forehead.  The very air in front of her began to shimmer.  "Your… spouse?  Who are you people?"

"If you let her go, I might be able to calm her down before this gets out of hand," the princess said, eyes narrowing.

Nagi was confused, "I'm not letting anyone go until I find out what's going on around here."

The Ryoko caught in the whip stood up and grabbed the weapon with both hands.  Energy crackled as she ripped it apart.  "It's already too late, Ayeka.  As a Juraian princess, I'm now officially royally pissed." Ryoko's symbol had appeared on her forehead and the three gems glowed almost unbearably bright.  "AND I'm goin' to kick somebody's ASS!"  She flew at the bounty hunter.

Nagi whipped her blaster around and took a shot.  Ryoko effortlessly batted the bolt aside, sending it flying off toward the ruins in the distance.  She grabbed the pistol and crushed it in her hand, along with a couple of Nagi's fingers.  The bounty hunter gasped in pain and dropped the now useless blaster and whip.  Ryoko took a swing at Nagi's head, which missed as the white haired woman ducked and rolled, coming up with a long-bladed knife.

A long, slender arm reached over the bounty hunter's shoulder and plucked the knife from her hand.

"Tsk, tsk," said a quiet voice in her ear.  "You don't really think you can handle all of us, do you?  I mean, there's the three of us and the princess there. And if you do manage to beat us, there's still both Tenchi's and Ryoko's mom to get past."  She turned to find two golden eyes inches from her own.  Golden eyes framed by a wide smile and two crescent-shaped cheek markings.

"Hi, I'm Minagi, Ryoko's daughter, sorta.  I really think you should give up now," said the woman, effortlessly bending the tempered durasteel blade in half between two of her fingers.

Nagi looked over at the Ryoko she'd been fighting with, the growling ex-pirate barely being restrained by the other Ryoko and Ayeka.  Then she saw Ryo-ohki and a strange cabbit hissing at Ken-ohki.  She slowly extended her arms straight out from her body, blood dripping from her mangled hand.  "Ok, I give up if someone will just tell me what is going on here."

"Good choice Nagi," grunted Ryoko-without-gems, tackling her counterpart for the fifth time.

*****

Kiyone ran from the ruins, hoping she'd be in time to stop whatever was happening out at the landing site.  Once again she was thankful for the improved cybernetic body Washu'd found on Earth.  She took another leap into the air, just in time to intercept the blaster bolt Ryoko had deflected.  Kiyone fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

*****

Skuld had discovered a vault under one of the larger ruins.  It appeared to be intact.  She called the others over.  After examining it, Washu decided that it was either from a bank or a government building.  Either way, it was the only intact structure they'd found so far so it warranted further investigation.  By this time Minagi and Ayeka had returned, leaving Nagi in the tender care of the two Ryoko's and Mihoshi who had finally landed.  Kiyone's unconscious form had also been found and transported to Yagami.

Forming her energy sword, Minagi quickly cut through the brittle metal, exposing the interior to the outside air for the first time in 95,000 years.  Washu winced at the possible destruction of valuable artifacts, but time didn't permit any other way.  When they were done the Juraian archeologists could have their turn.

After letting the area air out for a few minutes the group entered, Minagi and Washu provided light by creating energy globes and floating them near the ceiling.

"Hmm, I don't think this was part of a bank.  It looks more like secure storage for a museum of some kind," said Washu as the group wandered among the dusty artifacts.  "This could be just what we need.  Every one split up and look for anything that might have something to do with cabbits."

Moments later one of the Tenchi's came rushing into the room Washu was in.

"Washu," he cried, gasping for breath, "I've found something you might want to see."

He led her into another room that had artifacts from various spacecraft covered in rotting cloth.  In the corner stood a survival pod of the same type they had found on the old Juraian ship.

"Over there," he panted, waving his hand in the direction of the pod.  "But I can't read what's on the plaque."

Washu rushed over to the machine and looked at the inscription.  She couldn't read it either, but the language looked awfully familiar…  "Skuld," she yelled.  "Come in here a second."  When the little goddess had joined her she asked, "Can you read this?"

Skuld looked at the text for a minute.  "It's a lot like my language, but very archaic."

"Can you read what it says?" Washu asked.

Skuld looked at the plaque again.  "I think so…  Something about this pod and several others being found in a badly damaged ship that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.  A few of the pods contained artifacts, machinery and such.  Others contained life forms, some were small, mineral based animals with amazing capabilities and one other contained a fertilized human type ovum.  When incubated that ovum produced a being with amazing power.  And apparently that power was a dominant genetic trait because all the offspring of that person inherited the same power."

"Well, that certainly explains a lot," stated the red haired scientist.  "Now we know where this reality's Ryoko came from, and probably Washu as well.  And there are others; interesting.  But it looks like we'll have to go somewhere else for our answers."

"So all this has been a waste of time?" asked Tenchi.

Washu laughed, "Oh no.  I wouldn't say that.  We've learned quite a lot actually." She got serious for a moment, "We now know that somewhere one of my duplicates didn't make the same promises I did.  And that could be bad, very bad."

*****

"So Washu, did you find anything?" asked Sasami as the scientist finished bandaging Nagi's hand in Yagami's medical bay.

Washu taped the last splint in place then turned to the little princess.  "Yeah, we found an old museum vault that had one of those survival pods in it.  A plaque said that it and several others had been taken from a damaged Juraian ship, it seems that the cabbits aren't native to this reality either.  I guess we keep looking."  She turned back to the bounty hunter.  "You need to keep from trying to use that hand for a couple of days."

Nagi stood up.  "I need to see Ryoko, my Ryoko."

_Ah!  We both need to talk to Ryoko, don't we? _ came a voice in her head.

"How did you…?" exclaimed the startled bounty hunter.

"I can do that, but only with very special people.  Let's go find Ryoko," said Washu, taking Nagi by the arm.

They found her in the cargo hold, sparring with her double again.  Washu interrupted the practice, "Ryoko, Tenchi, we need to talk."

Both Ryoko's drifted over and the Tenchi's walked.

"About what Washu?" asked one of the Tenchi's

"Nagi has something to say to Ryoko, don't you?"  She turned to the bounty hunter.

"I'm sorry," apologized Nagi.  "I promise not to hunt you any more, I can see you've changed.  I guess I knew that when I helped you at Jurai."

"Then why did you keep it up?  There are easier bounties to catch," stated Ryoko-without-gems.

"Because you were the only one ever to get away from me.  At first it was a matter of honor." Nagi bowed her head.

"At first?  What happened then?" asked Ryoko, puzzled.

"Then, the more I tracked you the more I came to respect you and after respect came…" said the bounty hunter in a weak voice.

"Came what?" wondered Ryoko.

"She's trying to say she's in love with you now you dimwit!" yelled the other Ryoko.

Ryoko started laughing.  "She's… in love… with me?  Oh, that's a good one.  Sorry honey, I don't swing that way.  You might try her though."  She pointed to the other Ryoko.

"HEY!  WAITAMINUTE!  That's only with Ayeka and only _very_ occasionally.  In the words of the princess 'I am not a woman of loose morals!'  And how did you find out about it anyway?  I don't remember ever telling…" she turned to look at her Tenchi.  

He held up his hands in defense.  "Not me.  I didn't say a word, uh, uh.  Nope."

Ryoko-without-gems chuckled. "No, he didn't tell.  It seems the Empress was talking to your princess…"

"AYEKA!"  Energy began to crackle in Ryoko's hair.  She suddenly teleported away.

Tenchi started for the door.  "Uh, I'd better go calm her down while we still have a ship…"  He dashed out, headed for his, Ryoko and Ayeka's quarters.

A wide-eyed and very subdued Nagi turned back to the remaining Ryoko, "I know you don't reciprocate, but don't alienate me because of my feelings either.  I think we can still be friends.  Distant friends."

Washu started laughing.  "Oh, you're already much more than friends.  While I was patching you up I ran some scans on you.  You two are related.  Not closely, but still…  Somewhere in the not-so-distant past you shared an ancestor.  You might say you're cousins of a sort."

"WHAT?" from both Ryoko and Nagi.

The scientist raised an eyebrow.  "Sure.  About the same distance apart as Mihoshi and me; but don't tell her, I'm not ready to be called grandma yet.  Anyway, you two are a 75% genetic match.  You must have noticed; the hair, the features, _the attitude_?"  She gathered a stunned Ryoko and Nagi into a hug.  "Isn't it great? We're all just one big, happy family."

*****

Colonel Makibi Kiyone opened her artificial eyes and saw the ceiling of Yagami's medical bay staring back at her.  She remembered running out of the ruins and then…  nothing.  She heard movement at the foot of the bed.  Lifting her head, she saw the figure of a tall woman dressed in a white gown facing away from her, reading something that looked like a medical chart.  Wisps of spikey red hair peeked out from under a white cap.  The woman turned and smiled at her.

"So, the patient's finally awake.  'Bout time," said a familiar voice.

Kiyone looked at Washu standing at the end of the bed in a nurse's uniform.  "What happened?"

Washu chuckled, "You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  You took a high-powered blaster bolt to the chest, courtesy of my daughter."

"Then why aren't I dead, or at least disabled?" she asked the scientist.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?  Gee, I musta forgot to mention it…" Washu started to laugh.

"Tell me what?" asked the teal tressed GP sitting up in the bed and swinging her feet over the side.

Washu stopped laughing.  "That body of yours…  The synthetic skin is spun from a single molecule.  It'll take a nuclear explosion or a fusion torch to even mark it, let alone cut it.  A simple projectile weapon or common blaster won't even ding it."

Kiyone gave her a half smile.  "No, that information wasn't included in the warranty brochure.  But why did the blaster bolt knock me out?"

"That's easy.  Remember the extra sensors I built in?"

Kiyone nodded.

"Regardless of your durability, that blast hurt.  Your brain shut down because of sensory overload, that's all.  A few more hits like that and you'll be able to tolerate it better," Washu explained.

"Yeah, and next time the perp just kills me while I'm out cold.  Thanks but no thanks," the GP snorted.

"Hey!  Didn't I just tell you that you're pretty much indestructible?  Nothing can hurt you, my design is perfect!" Washu threw back her had and began cackling again.

"Uh, Washu?  If I remember correctly, you didn't design this body, a Terran did," Kiyone reminded her.

The scientist kept laughing.

Kiyone just shook her head at Washu's antics, waiting for her to stop.  After a minute or two the redhead finally calmed down.

"So, what happened while I was out?" Kiyone asked.

"Oh, just the usual.  Our Ryoko and the princess got into it for a while, but Tenchi stopped 'em.  The bounty hunter expressed her love for the other Ryoko; you know, the usual stuff."

"Bounty hunter?" asked Kiyone.

"Yeah.  Remember that Nagi person the Empress told us about? Well, she was the one following us," explained Washu.  "She's also the one that shot you, although that was by accident."

"Where is Nagi now?" Kiyone asked, standing up.

"Gone.  She apologized and said she's given up on Ryoko as a bounty.  She's going to leave her alone from now on, although Ryoko did invite her to stop by Earth and visit from time-to-time."

"And her Tenchi's ok with all this?" Kiyone wondered.

Washu grinned, "Well, he was going to argue, but Ryoko covered his mouth before he could start.  With hers.  That kinda shut him up for a while."

"Yeah, I'll bet," the GP Colonel said with a slight grin of her own.  Then her expression turned somber.  "That only leaves one loose end to tie up here."

"You mean Minagi," Washu spoke in a tone that said she'd already though of that.  "That's fairly easy.  She'll have to come home with us, I don't have the equipment to create a portal big enough to send her and Hinase home from here.  But once we're home, I can use the big machine to do it easily."

Kiyone expression was one of shock, "That means towing Hinase all the way to Earth!"

"Well duh!  You got any plans for the next month or so?" asked Washu.

"Actually…" Kiyone got a dreamy look in her eye.

Washu smiled at her, "Ok, ok.  Once we get home it'll be a week or so before I locate our next target.  Plenty of time for you and the ditz to get some R&R with your beau's."

Kiyone hugged the scientist.  "Thanks Washu.  I'd better get up to the command deck before Mihoshi really screws something up.  Where to first?"

"Jurai, to drop off our spare Tenchi and Ryoko, then home." Washu said

The two left the medical bay together.

Kiyone started laughing, "Say Washu, did I ever tell you about the time Mihoshi…"

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Oops, sorry.  In the first post of this chapter I forgot the part where they found the other pod.  This is the revised version.

All right!  On to the next reality.  I haven't decided yet if Minagi will stay with them through the next episode or not, but Skuld will stay home for a while.  She'll reappear later.  I may write a side story at some time about the practical joke war Xellos has started with Washu, but I'm not quite sure it would be worth the effort, the two anime's are so different.

On a different note, I'm planning on attending the Ohayocon in Independence Ohio on January 12, 2002.  It'll be the first con I've been to since a Star Trek Convention in Detroit in 1973 or 74 where I got stuck in an elevator on the 16th floor at 1:00am on my way to a showing of a Planet of the Apes marathon.  (By coincidence James Doohan had just gotten off a couple of floors before.  I got his autograph.  Nice guy…)  Just look for the guy with the short, graying beard wearing a Confederate Field Officer's hat.  (It won't be James Doohan, it'll be me.) Weather and truck maintenance permitting (it's running like crap at the moment, I don't know if it'll make it all the way to Cleveland and back), I'll be there with my daughter and some of her friends.  I get to play chaperone, yay.

Review Responses

Priest – Ah, that's the trick isn't it?  Trying to keep everyone in character even when it's just a cameo.  And I've never seen that picture of the two Ayeka's.  Is it fanart or an actual illustration?  Either way, I'd love to see it; can you e-mail it to me?

Silver – I've just read chapters 13 and 14 of "Passion".  Once again I'm awestruck at the depth you give the characters.  I can and will put you at that level.


	9. Here We Are Again - Part 1

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 9

Here We Are Again

Part 1

*****

Once again Yagami was hovering over the Reality Hopper's portal, ready to enter an alternate reality that the scientist Washu had determined contained multiple cabbits.  The problem was that this reality was so far distant from their own that she hadn't been able to get a good look at it through her viewer.  About all she could find out was that this was the farthest reality from their own that still had cabbits.

Washu was again in position between the seats in Yagami's control room.  She tapped Kiyone on the shoulder and nodded, indicating that everything was ready for the transfer.  As Mihoshi brought the engines up to power, Kiyone once again killed the Yagami's anti-grav field.  As the field collapsed the ship fell slowly into the portal.

*****

Kiyone awoke with a blinding headache.  Looking over at her partner, she saw that Mihoshi was still unconscious; however Washu was beginning to stir from the floor between the seats.

As the red headed scientist sat up holding her head, the GP Colonel asked, "What just happened?  The last time we didn't feel a thing."

Washu was puzzled, "I don't know, we shouldn't have felt a thing, just like last time."

"Remember, Minagi said that she was knocked out by her transfer.  Could something like that have happened to us?" Kiyone wondered.

The sometimes goddess shook her head. "The machine Xellos used to send Minagi to us wasn't designed for anything as large as Hinase, that's why the feedback knocked her out and damaged Hinase's power converters," she explained.

Kiyone looked at the viewscreen, "Could this Xellos have done something similar to us?"

Washu stepped forward.  "Hmmm.  Maybe…  Let me see," she looked at the instruments on Kiyone's panel.  "Nope, we're right where we're supposed to be.  It's probably because this reality is a lot farther away that the last one.  When we get back I'll check it out, maybe I can make an adjustment in case this reality doesn't pan out either."

The GP looked Washu in the eye.  "You sound like you don't hold much hope…"

"Yeah, that's me, the patron Goddess of Optimism," Washu said in a cynical tone.  She noticed Mihoshi starting to come around.  "I'd better go see how the others are doing."

*****

Princess Ayeka Jurai sat on the deck outside the Masaki home watching the sun set over the mountains.  She reflected on what her life had been like ever since she and her sister had been exiled to this remote place after a coup on Jurai.  Life wasn't so bad, she thought.  There was plenty to keep her and Sasami busy: housework, shopping, helping Tenchi.  Ah, Tenchi.  Such a nice person.  Without Tenchi to keep her company, life would be boring.  It was nice to have someone her own age to talk to.

A roaring coming from the sky interrupted her musings.  Looking up, she saw the great silver form of a starship descending over the lake.  The type was unfamiliar to her; at least it wasn't Juraian.  With great dignity she got up and entered the house to get her sister and change into something more formal to greet these visitors.

The princess wasn't the only person to hear the incoming craft.  Up at the shrine Katsuhito interrupted Tenchi's training session.  Turning to his student he said, "Go.  You must prepare yourself to greet your guests."

Tenchi bowed and sprinted for the steps leading down to the house.

*****

Washu again sent Kiyone out first to speak with the residents.  Kiyone had wondered why she was always chosen, but after the affair on the dead planet she understood.  She greeted the two princesses at the bottom of the ramp, "Princess Ayeka, Princess Sasami, I am Colonel Makibi Kiyone of the Galaxy Police.  I don't know if you've ever heard of me here, but I know you two somewhat."

"Colonel… Kiyone was it?  What would the Galaxy Police want with us?  We have broken no laws and this solar system is a bit out of your jurisdiction, isn't it?"  Princess Ayeka said.

Kiyone smiled at her, "You misunderstand.  We're not here to arrest anyone, all we want is Jurai's permission and perhaps help in conducting a scientific inquiry."

The princess frowned, "Ah.  Then you have wasted your time.  Since the coup and revolution, my sister and I no longer have any standing in the Jurai government.  We are lucky that we weren't imprisoned like our parents and Aunt Funaho.  Instead we were sent to this place and forbidden any contact with any other space-going peoples.  You shouldn't even be here.  But you said 'we'.  I don't see any others."

"My partner Lieutenant Mihoshi and the others are still in the ship.  Perhaps we could talk to Washu?" Kiyone asked.

"Washu?  Who's Washu?" Princess Sasami spoke for the first time.

Kiyone was stunned.  No Washu?  The Jurai Royal Family out of power?  This was a strange reality.

She quickly collected her wits.  "Um, er…  Perhaps we'd better proceed with the introductions and explanations," she said, gesturing back at the ship.

Ayeka's eyes got wide as the first person appeared in the hatch.  Sasami tugged on her sleeve and she bent down so the little princess could whisper in her ear.

"Yes indeed.  It is the Space Pirate Ryoko.  So monster, have you come to gloat over the fallen?  To finish what you started seven hundred years ago?" Ayeka's eyes smoldered with suppressed hatred.

Ryoko snickered, "No Princess, it is Princess this time, isn't it?  I'm here with some others for another purpose entirely."

Ayeka briefly wondered what Ryoko meant.  "I will not…" her voice trailed off as three others descended.  One was a young man and holding his hand was… herself.  Behind them was Sasami.  She looked down at her sister who was standing speechless.

"I would like to introduce my husband, wife and sister-in-law," said Ryoko.

"I… I… I…" was all that came out of Ayeka's mouth.

_I'm gonna like this one, _ thought the ex-pirate, _she's fun, but not as cute as mine. _

Last to exit the ship was Washu, still in child form, and Mihoshi.  Washu was carrying Ryo-ohki and Ay-ohki, one on each shoulder.

Just then a pretty girl with long brown hair came flying out of the house to skid to a stop next to Ayeka.  

"I… I… I'm sorry I'm late.  I h… had to change…" she gasped, out of breath.

Kiyone noticed she was a bit taller than the princess and slightly bigger in other areas as well.

"That's all right dear," said the princess, putting her arm around the girl in a friendly way.  "These people were just going to come into the house and explain everything.  Weren't you?" she cast a sidelong glance at Kiyone.

"Yeah, I guess we were," the GP responded.

Right then the girl caught sight of the other Ayeka and Sasami.  She turned to the princess, "Ayeka!  That… that's you s… standing there.  With different hair.  And is that Sasami?"

"I know.  That's what needs explaining."  Ayeka stole a glance at the group.

Kiyone held up her hand to stop Ayeka, "Princess, before we go, can I ask who this girl is?  I know you and your sister and there's something familiar about her, but I can't quite place her."

The princess turned back to the GP officer.  "Yes, I suppose an introduction is in order.  Colonel Makibi Kiyone, this is Masaki Tenchi.  Her father owns the house here and her grandfather is the priest of the shrine up the hill there."

The girl, still out of breath from the run, bowed politely to the officer then to the rest of the group.

Kiyone was speechless.  She heard a soft thud behind her but was afraid to turn and look.  Princess Ayeka was looking past her at the group.

"Oh my.  It seems that the young man has fainted," she said.  "I wonder what caused that?"

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Ok, why is this one so short?  Well, I was originally going to have them visit the TinT continuity.  But I've only seen that series once, so I sat down to watch it again (I have it in RM format on my PC).  After about five minutes into the first episode (Separation Anxiety) I gave it up as a lost cause, there was no way I was going to come down to that level.  I apologize to anyone who liked the series, I don't really hate it myself; it's just… not really Tenchi.  If I wanted a real Tenchi parody, I'd watch Magical Project S (Pretty Sammy); I have all those episodes too and they're much better than TinT because they're meant as a parody.  (I love Crabbie, the submarine manned by all the little Washu dolls in Ep. 25.)

As to the fic itself, this reality was inspired by a fic I read on TMFFA a long while back where Tenchi was a girl and the person trapped in the cave was Kagato.  I don't remember whom the author was and I'm too lazy to search for the fic right now, so let's just leave it at my giving him or her credit for the inspiration.  But it's not Kagato trapped in the cave here, it's Ryoko (that was a spoiler, sorry).

Review Responses

DennisuD – That's it, stroke what little ego I have.  Although I'm pleased to be mentioned in the same paragraph as Krin Dreamweaver and Roas Atrades, they both write with a lot more depth and detail than I could ever hope to achieve.  And they've both been doing it a lot longer than me too.  I'm just happy that people are actually reading my ramblings.  That aside, I won't be using Pretty Sammy in this series, perhaps she'll make an appearance if I write about the Joke War between Xellos (Slayers for those that don't know who he is) and Washu (Tenchi for those that haven't realized it yet – and if you haven't why are you reading this?)  And I'm trying to stick to anime characters or variations of them.  Speaking of Star Wars though, our local art museum is currently showing the Smithsonian exhibit.  Has been since July or August and I still haven't made it there.  I've only got two more weeks before it leaves so I'd better get my ass in gear, eh?

Priest – And Happy Holidays to you too.

BobR

12/18/2001


	10. Here We Are Again - Part 2

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 10

Here We Are Again

Part 2

*****

The sun had finally disappeared behind the distant peaks, leaving the dim twilight of early evening behind.  Tenchi (male) was still passed out from the shock of learning he was a female in this reality.  He was being tended to by the two Sasami's in an upstairs bedroom.  Kiyone and Mihoshi were seeing to the hiding of Yagami away from any prying eyes, including any Juraians that might be keeping an eye on the two princesses, and Washu, Ryoko and Tenchi (female) had gone up to the shrine to see Katsuhito.

"So, what you're telling me is that a few disgruntled nobles managed to overthrow the Royal Family.  How could this happen?  The Holy Council and the people would never stand for it."  Princess Ayeka (blue hair) and Princess Ayeka (purple hair) were seated in the Masaki family kitchen sipping tea.  

Ayeka (purple hair) sighed before answering.  "The nobles had the support of high-ranking military officers, so there was nothing anyone could do.  If only I had found my brother.  He could have rallied the people and stopped this.  He was much loved."

Ayeka (blue hair) gave her counterpart a strange look, "And if you found Yosho, what then?"

"I don't know.  But our people are miserable under the new regime; I understand it's very repressive."

The other Ayeka sipped her tea thoughtfully, "Then perhaps we can help, yes, perhaps."

*****

Washu and Tenchi walked up the stairs to the shrine while Ryoko floated along behind them.  The scientist was telling the girl about the history of each member of the group, when she got to the part about Ryoko and the cave, the girl got very excited.

"I know that cave, Grandpa keeps it locked so that no one can get hurt inside.  He says it's very dangerous."

"Has he said anything about a demon inside?" asked Ryoko.

"Yeah," Tenchi replied, "but that's just an old legend.  According to Grandpa, one of our ancestors…"

"Yosho!" Ryoko interrupted.

"Yeah, Yosho.  Well anyway, he defeated the demon and locked it in the cave.  But Grandpa says it's just an old legend," she repeated.

"Legends usually have some basis in fact," said Washu cryptically.

They reached the top of the steps and entered the small courtyard of the Masaki shrine.  Tenchi called for her grandfather, "Grandpa, there're some people here to see you."

The door to the shrine office slid open, allowing a bright light into the darkening courtyard.  "What is it now Tenchi?  Is it our visitors…"  Katsuhito saw the three women standing there.  He ducked back into the office, then came charging out, a metal sword glittering in his hand.  "Tenchi!  Run!  Get as far from here as you can, I'll try to keep her busy while you get away!"  He ran at Ryoko, sword at the ready.

Realizing what was going on, Washu held up a hand toward Katsuhito.  She changed into adult form and her symbol glowed briefly.  Katsuhito froze in his tracks.  She walked up to him and gently took the sword from his stiff fingers.  "Boys and their toys," she muttered.  She tossed the blade into a subspace pocket.  "Better get rid of that before someone cuts themselves.  You can have it back when you learn how to act in front of ladies."  She looked over her shoulder at the other two women and gave them a wink.  Turning back to the priest she said, "I'm going to release your mouth so you can speak.  If we can come to an understanding I'll free the rest of your body as well, ok 'Yosho'?"  She touched his lips with her finger.

"Who are… How did you…  Why isn't Ryoko attacking?" he managed to stutter out.

Washu laughed.  "First of all, I am Washu, creator of Ryoko and Ryo-ohki, eldest of the three Juraian Goddesses and the greatest scientific genius in the Universe, not to mention cute!" _I _have_ to get me some of those little puppets that other Washu had, they were so cool! _ she thought.  "And if I were to guess, I'd say that your Ryoko is still trapped in the cave, a situation we're going to have to do something about real soon.  Please, allow me to introduce my daughter, Princess Masaki Ryoko of Jurai.  And as you may have guessed, we're not from around these parts.  Now, if I let you go will you listen to reason?"

"Yes, My Lady," said the old priest.

Washu waved her hand and Katsuhito stumbled forward, suddenly able to move again.  He bowed deeply to Washu and the girls.  "My Lady, ladies.  Please come into the office and make yourselves comfortable," he said.  "I think this is going to be a long story."

*****

Tenchi groaned and opened his eyes.  The first thing he saw was Sasami's smiling face, Ryo-ohki perched atop her head.  Shifting his vision to the other side, he saw the other Sasami with Ay-ohki on her head.  He remembered what had caused him to pass out.

"Is it true?" he asked, "Am I a girl in this reality?"

"Yes Tenchi," his Sasami giggled.  "And you're really cute too."

"Yeah, I noticed," he said, blushing.

Sasami giggled again, "Oh Tenchi.  Are you being a naughty boy again?  And you're a married man; wait until I tell my sister and Ryoko!"

*****

Katsuhito shook his head in disbelief.  "So, in your world Tenchi is a man, and he's married to both Ryoko and my sister?  Amazing.  Tenchi being a male would have solved so many problems here, not that I'm at all disappointed in my granddaughter.  I've read theories about the existence of other realities, and now I have proof.  But do you think it wise to release our Ryoko?  From what you say Kagato will be able to find her again."

Ryoko growled at him and was hushed by her mother.

"She's awake you know, has been for decades," Washu said.  "You programmed that containment unit yourself.  It was set to wake her when it determined she was ready to begin a normal life."

"But Lady Washu, the remote has never…  Wait, I'll show you," he went over to the desk and pulled a small device out of the drawer.  "See, it still shows her as asleep."

"Let me see that…" Washu took the device and examined it.  "Ah ha, just as I thought.  When was the last time you checked the power source?  This thing couldn't receive a signal if it was right next to the transmitter."

Ryoko stood up quickly.  "You mean I was trapped down there because he didn't use the pink bunny batteries?  That I should have been released long ago?"  She turned on the priest, an angry glint in her eye.

Washu placed herself between her daughter and Katsuhito.  "Ryoko, calm down.  We don't know if that's the case with you.  And besides, the power cell in this unit is supposed to last for thousands of years.  It must be defective, he had no way of knowing."

"Ayeka is my aunt?  I'm a princess?  There really is a demon?" wondered Tenchi, totally lost in her own little world.

The other three turned to look at her then decided that it wasn't worth the effort to bring her back to reality right now.  She wasn't contributing anything to the conversation anyway.

Washu sat back down and took a sip of tea from the cup Katsuhito had refilled for her.  "Tomorrow we'll have to go down there and free her.  It's too late tonight and one more day isn't going to hurt her that much."

The priest also resumed his seat across the table.  "But Lady Washu, what if she's not ready?  What if she's unreformed?  I understand about your daughter here, but you've already said that the realities don't run exactly alike.  This Ryoko may still be dangerous."

Washu considered what he said for a few seconds.  "We'll have to take that chance.  I can't contact her mentally as long as she's still in containment, so there's no way of knowing her mental state.  But I just can't leave her there.  Even though she's not my _true_ daughter, she's still a relative, so to speak."

"There's a cute, fuzzy little demon in the lake too?" said Tenchi, eyes still glazed over.

Ryoko shook her head.  "You two decide what your gonna do, I'll take Mihoshi junior here back down to the house."  She reached out and gently put her arm around the girl.  _Strange, this feels right, like I'm touching my husband, _ she thought.  _In a way, I guess I am… _  "Come on honey, let's go."  She teleported the two of them away.

Katsuhito watched them go, then dropped his disguise.  "Lady Washu, if our Ryoko is truly like yours now, I owe you and her a big apology.  Your daughter is a wonderful person."

"That's only because you gave her a second chance.  And for that, I admire you Lord Yosho.  And I regret all that you gave up to stay here and watch over her."

Yosho chuckled, "Oh, it was no chore.  I had other… things to keep me occupied as well."

Washu grinned at him; "You'll have to tell your sister now.  Tenchi knows and she'll let it slip someday."

Yosho stood up and walked to the window.  "I know.  And she'll want me to help her free our parents and reinstate the Royal Family.  I've tried to distance myself from all that for 700 years.  I don't know if I'm ready to jump back in yet."

"Your mother and father are the prisoners of a corrupt regime.  Surely you want to help them?" Washu asked.

He got a faraway look in his eyes.  "I do, yes.  But until you showed up there was no way to get off planet.  The only ship was Ryo-ohki.  She's in the lake and she only listens to Ryoko."

The scientist walked over to him and patted his arm, "Well, we're here now.  And as soon as we get Ryoko out of that damn cave we'll have three ships, or four if Ay-ohki's ready and I think he is."  She chuckled.  "I feel sorry for the Juraian fleet already."

Yosho reached out and touched her on the shoulder.  "Lady Washu, a final question if I may?"

"Yes?" she replied.

"Are you really Tsunami's sister?" the Juraian asked.

Washu stared off into the dark, "In this reality, I don't know.  Probably.  Back in my reality, yes I am."

"Thank you.  You've restored my faith," he sighed.

"But you're a Shinto priest…" Washu said with a mocking voice

Yosho smiled at her.  "I'm also a Juraian, raised in the spirit of Tsunami," he explained. "The coup has outlawed all recognition of Tsunami's divinity.  Fortunately the Royal nursery won't open for them, only for the Royal Family, otherwise Tsunami's Tree would be in danger."

"I'll let you in on a little secret then Yosho," the scientist said in a conspiratorial tone, "Tsunami's here on Earth.  And there may be others we can call on in need as well."

Yosho started for the door, holding out his hand for her to take. "Then what can go wrong?  We have two goddesses on our side."

Washu shook her head, and put her hand in his.  "Plenty can still go wrong, Yosho.  Plenty."

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Ok, how's this story coming along?  Is it as good as "Newlyweds"?  Is it too confusing?  Should I just give up? (Just kidding!)

Well, my Mid Terms are given; I just have to grade them now.  Knowing me, I'll wait until the day before school starts to do it.  What that means though is that I'll have a bit more time to concentrate on this story.  Hopefully it'll show.

Review Reponses

Taelyn – I enjoyed the picture very much.  Thank you.

DennisuD – Well, it really wasn't much of a spoiler…  And the GPs are there, but since the coup on Jurai they no longer have contact with the Juraian Government.

Priest – Thanks.  I'm glad someone else read that fic too.  I don't think the author ever finished it, but the character was used in a Christmas fic by a different author.  That's where I came across her.  (Don't you hate it when an author never finishes a storyline?  I promise to never do that.  Really.)

Agent_86 – Maxwell Smart, eh?  Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember when that series was new.  Anyway, is this fast enough for you?  I can't promise they'll all be out this fast though.

BobR

12/19/2001


	11. Here We Are Again - Part 3

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 11

Here We Are Again

Part 3

*****

To say that Ayeka was surprised when she found out that she had been living with her brother for months was putting it mildly.  After she was done beating him about the head and all of her tears had dried, Washu gave her a mild sedative from Yagami's medical stores and had the other Ayeka put her to bed.  She then assured everyone that the princess would be fine in the morning.  The rest of the group gathered in the Masaki family living room to map out a plan of attack.  This included the other Tenchi who had snapped back to reality during Ayeka's outburst.

"All right, there are certain things we need to do first," Washu began.  "Kiyone, Mihoshi, I want you to take Yagami up tomorrow and look for any evidence of Juraians on this planet.  Besides the group here I mean.  If the current Jurai government catches wind of what we're up to, they'll turn this planet into atoms."

"Right.  We'll leave first thing in the morning," said Kiyone.

"Gee, I hope it's after we eat one of Sasami's breakfasts.  Right Kiyone?" asked Mihoshi.  Kiyone bopped her in the head with a pillow from the couch.

Washu chuckled, "I suppose it could wait until then, yes.  Sasami, is the ship Tsunami here?  Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, we know all about you and Tsunami."

Sasami looked startled for a moment then replied in Tsunami's voice, "No, my sister's sister.  The ship did not get away from Jurai before it was seized."

Washu sighed, "Ah.  I was hoping…  Oh well, nothing we can do about it then."

Sasami shook herself and in her normal voice asked, "Anyone want more tea?"  She got up and went into the kitchen followed by the other Sasami and Ryo-ohki.

*****

The two Tenchi's sat uneasily eyeing each other.  "What's it like?  Being a guy I mean," Tenchi asked her counterpart.

"I don't know," he answered.  "It's all I've ever been.  Could you explain being a girl?"

She shook her head and grinned at him.  _He's cute.  No wonder those two fell in love with him.  I hope I meet someone like him someday. _

*****

Washu sat back in the chair and made a satisfied sound.  The plans were going well; they might even have a chance to pull it off.  Provided that this reality's Ryoko would cooperate that is.  Then they could get down to the business of finding out about the other cabbits that supposedly existed here.  Neither Yosho nor Ayeka had seen any besides Ryo-ohki 700 years before, but they'd heard rumors from merchants who traded far outside of Jurai's borders.

"Well, I suppose we'd better call it quits for tonight.  Tomorrow's going to be a long day.  Is everyone sure they're all right with what we're going to do?" the scientist asked.

She got nods from everyone.  "Ok, everyone try to get a good night's sleep.  Tenchi," she stopped the girl with her hand, "I know you're nervous about Ryoko.  Don't be, it'll all turn out ok.  I have a feeling, and I _am_ a goddess after all."

"I know Lady Washu, I'll try," Tenchi said demurely.

"Oh, and drop the 'Lady' part, ok?  I let your grandfather get away with it in both realities because it amuses both of us, kind of an inside joke.  But everyone else just calls me Washu or Little Washu as the case may be.  Except for Skuld of course…"

"Who's Skuld?" the girl asked.

"Don't worry about it.  Go to bed."

*****

Ayeka watched the next morning as Yagami left on the mission that Washu had assigned the two GP officers.  She was still upset about her brother and that put her in a really bad mood.  This was obvious to everyone else and they were avoiding her as much as possible, which really didn't help.

*****

"Sasami, I don't think you should go with us into the cave," said Ryoko.  "You've never seen me like that and I don't want you to have nightmares.  Either of you."

"But Ryoko," pleaded the Sasami with the triangle symbol, "we both want to be there.  Everyone else gets to go."

"Yeah," said the other one, "and I'm still mad about being left on the ship with Mihoshi during our last adventure."

Ryoko chuckled, "Ok, tell you what; if your sisters agree, then you can go.  Otherwise you stay here with the cabbits.  Agreed?"

"Yay!" cheered both Sasami's and immediately ran out of the room to start working on their respective sisters.

_Gotta love 'em, _ thought the ex-pirate.

*****

It was late morning when the group finally gathered outside the cave entrance.  Katsuhito produced the keys to the lock and handed them to his granddaughter.  "I think you should do the honors Tenchi.  It just seems right somehow."

She took the keys and tried the one that looked like it would fit the ancient padlock.  Wonder of wonders it clicked open on the first try.  Washu grinned at her, "See, it's been waiting a long time for you.  Go on in, we're right behind you."

The group walked down the long, dark passage.  Ryoko smiled to herself as a small blue glow sped past them, headed deeper into the cave.  She knew what that was.  _See you soon, _ she thought.

Rounding a bend in the passage, the group entered a small chamber almost entirely covered by tree roots.  Prayer strips hung everywhere and tucked away near the far wall was a small shrine.  Katsuhito nodded to the little house, "Open it Tenchi, and remove what you find inside."

Tenchi slowly opened the small doors.  Inside was a sword hilt decorated with intricate carvings and three red jewels.  Tugging hard, she managed to remove the old blade.  "It's just a rusty old piece of junk!" she exclaimed once it was free of its sheath.  The other Tenchi smiled when he heard her, his own exactly the same words echoing in his mind.

Katsuhito smiled.  "The blade itself is a fake, a 'piece of junk' as you put it.  The hilt however is the Master Key."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the purple haired princess.  "The Tenchi-ken!  The Master Key to the Juraian Trees.  Is that really it?"

"Yes, sister," Katsuhito replied without looking at her.  "Now Tenchi, point it at that rock over there and will it to open.  Just think 'open'."

"Not 'Open Sesame'?" chortled Washu.

The old priest laughed too, "If you wish it, then yes.  'Open Sesame' will work just as well."

Tenchi did as she was told and much to her surprise the rock split in two.  When it did, the tree roots that covered the far wall began to retract.

"What you see around you is one of my ship Funaho's containment units," Katsuhito explained.  "It protects the doorway to Ryoko's crypt.  Tenchi just deactivated it."

"Like the units I kept you and Ryoko in on Ryu-oh when we first met," whispered blue haired Ayeka to her Tenchi.

"I got that," her husband whispered back.

A seam appeared in the far wall once the roots had disappeared; it slowly widened into a narrow passageway.  Tenchi was fascinated by all that was happening in the room, when he'd gone through this himself he hadn't had time to watch everything.  He pointed to the newly opened passage.  "Through there; but be careful, it's steep and slippery."

"Good advice," said the priest.  "It _is_ very steep and slippery.  Shall we?"

Once again Tenchi led the way at the urging of her grandfather and Washu.  Everyone managed to make it to the bottom without incident.  In the center of the chamber was a glowing pool that Ryoko recognized at once.  She stumbled and almost fell.

Washu turned to her daughter, "Are you ok Ryoko?  I'm sure this bothers you."

Ryoko had her Tenchi's arm in a grip that would have made Misaki proud.  "Yeah mom," she said with just a hint of a quaver in her voice.  "I'll be fine."

"Good, because we're going to need you."  Washu turned and started across the floor.

The group walked to the pool and looked in.  Ayeka (blue hair) gasped at what she saw.  She turned to her spouse with a sympathetic expression.  "Oh Ryoko, I had no idea.  All those times I called you a monster…  I'm so sorry."

Ryoko dismissed her with a wave of her hand.  "It's in the past now, Ayeka; I never really took you seriously.  Besides, I _was_ a monster under Kagato."

"Oh wow, Ryoko!  Is that really what you looked like?" asked her Sasami.  "Scary.  No wonder Tenchi was afraid of you at first."

"Yeah, Sasami.  Don't say I didn't warn you guys about it," said Ryoko, looking at the body in the pool and shivering with the memories.

"So, this is the infamous Demon of Jurai, eh?  Well, now she looks the part.  I don't understand why we need to release her, why not just let her rot?"  Ryoko and Ayeka turned to look at the purple haired princess.  Both growled menacingly.

"Princess, you obviously haven't heard a word we've said," Washu said angrily.  "Even your brother agrees that it's time to bring her back.  The statute of limitations on her crimes expired long ago."

Ayeka whirled on the scientist, "I cannot agree to anything that will put Tenchi in any danger.  Ryoko is too unpredictable.  She…"

Tenchi put her hand on Ayeka's arm.  "It's all right Ayeka.  If we want to see Jurai returned to your family we need her help.  And if she's anything like the other Ryoko, you two should get along fine."  She turned to Washu.  "I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Washu gestured for everyone to move back.  "Tenchi should be the only one she sees at first.  We don't want to spook her, although I'm pretty sure she already knows we're here."  She nudged the girl toward the pool.  "Regardless of anything you see or hear, just remember that she's not going to try to hurt you.  Besides, we'll be right here to stop her."

Tenchi looked at the desiccated body submerged in the fluid and swallowed hard.  She wasn't sure she wanted to go through with this now.  This Ryoko sure didn't look anything like the beautiful girl with the golden eyes and bluish hair standing next to her other self

"Tenchi, it has to be you.  Everything else being equal, you're the only one she'll trust," Washu said gently.

Tenchi swallowed again and walked back to the edge of the pool.  She looked over her shoulder at her Grandfather who nodded assent.  The redheaded scientist was busy typing on an ethereal computer terminal.

_Whatcha doin' mom? _ came Ryoko's silent question when she saw Washu busy with her holo-terminal.

Washu responded the same way.  _Trying to reactivate the lab that exists in this reality; we'll have to get her deprogrammed as soon as possible.  You don't want to go through that whole Soja mess again, do you? _  

Ryoko shuddered at the idea, then shuddered again as another thought struck her.  _You're not gonna tie her up like you did me, are you? _

_No, I've refined my methods since then.  Do you want me to apologize again? _ Washu suddenly smiled, success!

Tenchi knelt at the edge of the pool and closed her eyes.  She reached out her hand and touched the fluid; it had a slightly oily feel and was very cold.  There was a movement in the pool and she felt something caressing her hand.  The feeling slowly moved up her arm until it was touching her face.  Sounds were now coming from in front of her; soft moans and gasps as if whatever it was was trying to talk to her.  Slowly she opened her eyes to see the demon's wooden mask with two glowing orbs for eyes just inches from her own face.  A bony hand was running itself around the outline of her jaw.  She had to fight the urge to pull away and run.

"Tenchi," called Washu quietly, "lead her out of the pool.  We'll do the rest."

Tenchi hesitantly reached out and took the demon's arm.  A gentle pull caused the thing to follow her as she stepped back from the pool.

Washu turned to her daughter, "Ryoko, I want you to feed her some of the power from the gems.  It took you weeks to regenerate yourself, we can let her do it in minutes."

"Why don't we just give her the gems from the sword?" Ryoko asked.

Her mother gave her a look that said she was an idiot.  "Because she's not quite sane yet.  Remember what you were like when you first came out; you destroyed Tenchi's school and almost killed him, and that was without any gems except the fake one.  What do you think she'd do with all the power of the real ones?"

"Hey!  I was just playin' with him.  But I get your point."  Ryoko stepped forward and pointed her hand at the demon.  A soft red light came forth and enveloped her other self and the girl Tenchi.  To everyone's amazement except Ryoko and Washu, the demon's form began to fill out and her hair resumed its natural cyan color.  The mask slipped to the floor to reveal two golden eyes.  "Tenchiii," she moaned before she fell to the floor, unconscious.

Washu rubbed her hands together, "Ok.  Now, let's get her into the lab so's I can get to work on her."

"I assume it's in its usual place?" asked Ryoko, lowering her hand and stepping forward to pick up her other self.

"Yep," confirmed her mother.

"Ok, I'll meet you all there."  Ryoko teleported away, gently cradling her double in her arms.

Outside the cave near the shrine, the Space Tree Funaho beamed the message of Ryoko's awakening back to Tsunami's Tree on Jurai.  Tsunami, upon receiving the message, smiled.  Soon the events in this reality would begin to correct themselves, with a little help from the outsiders.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Review Replies

Vsdefender – After your review I went to K'thardin's page and read that other review.  Wow.  Scathing is putting it mildly.  Needless to say I didn't bother hunting up the fic.  I spent some time looking on GenSao's page as well and the fic I referred to was "Bishonen Muyo" by Keener.  It's not a bad fic, but it wasn't to my taste for some reason.  

And although I'm familiar with Ranma, I'm not a big fan.  Once again, it's an excellent series but doesn't really interest me too much.  However, there's an excellent crossover fic that you're probably familiar with already – "Hearts Healing" by D.F. Roeder (http://www.flash.net/~dfroeder/index.html) that takes place in an AU in which Ranma meets up with Ryoko after Tenchi chooses Ayeka.

DennisuD – Nope, none of the above.  But Kagato does play an important role here.  Thanks for the ideas though, you've given me plenty; some of which I've managed to use, like Minagi.  (She may show up again sometime, who knows?  After all, she's kinda pissed off at Xellos too.)  Just a little poke at my gray matter sometimes really helps.

I've never seen Evangelion, although I've seen a few jpegs from the series and there's trailers for it on my Slayers videos.  I understand it's rather dark, but it looks interesting.  Maybe I'll read your EVA fics to get a feel for it.

BobR

12/21/2001


	12. Here We Are Again - Part 4

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 12

Here We Are Again

Part 4

*****

Ryoko opened her eyes and saw Tenchi smiling down at her.  She heard the soft humming of machinery in the distance and felt the cool caress of clean linen under her back.  She remembered herself calling out Tenchi's name as a flood of power overwhelmed her.  She also vaguely remembered that there were several other people present in the cave at the time.

"Hello Ryoko.  Remember me?" Tenchi asked.

"Yes, I…"  She reached a hand up to touch the other girl's face. 

Someone on the other side of her cleared their throat.  Ryoko painfully turned her head in that direction, bringing into focus a pair of emerald green eyes surrounded by bright red hair.  The hair was as spikey as hers and was tied back with a headband that had two large, black beads.  The sight was enough to make Ryoko giggle weakly.

"Whoever you are, you look like you have a crab on your head," she managed to get out.

"Thanks.  That's the look I was hoping for.  As to who I am, you might say that I'm your Aunt Washu," the tall woman replied.

"What happened to me?" Ryoko asked.  "Where did that power come from?"

Washu turned away to look at the readout on one of the instruments attached to the pirate.  "From your 'cousin'.  I had her give some of her power to you to help speed your healing.  Once you're feeling a bit better I'll introduce you to everyone else, but for now you've just got Tenchi and me.  And we've got some explaining to do."

Ryoko turned her gaze back to Tenchi as the girl squeezed her hand.  Tenchi smiled at her.

*****

Purple haired Ayeka was pacing back and forth in the Masaki living room.  She was having a really bad day.  First she discovered that the old man she'd seen on an almost daily basis was her long-lost brother, Yosho.  Then they had to go and wake up that monster woman Ryoko.  What else was going to go wrong?

"Ayeka, you're going to wear a hole in the floor if you don't stop," said her sister.

"Yeah.  You're making us dizzy going around in circles like that," said the other Sasami.

The princess threw up her hands in exasperation and stalked off upstairs to her room.  Blue haired Ayeka looked at her husband.  Tenchi nodded and she followed her counterpart upstairs.

"Will my sister be ok?" the Sasami with the triangular symbol asked, her eyes following the two princesses up the stairs.

"If anyone can get her calmed down, it's my sister.  She's already been through all this so she knows from experience," replied the Sasami with the two dots on her forehead.

*****

"So you see Ayeka, it was Kagato, not Ryoko that caused all the damage.  Inside, Ryoko is still the child that Kagato stole from Washu," blue haired Ayeka explained to her counterpart.

The other Ayeka sighed with resignation.  "Washu explained all of this to me this morning.  My heart knows you're telling the truth, but my mind still sees her as the being that almost destroyed my planet."

Ayeka took her counterparts hands in hers.  "I felt the same at first.  It took me a long time, but I finally came to see Ryoko as a very vulnerable person.  She's never had any real friends or family, you and the others have to be those for her.  Help her to be herself, not someone's marionette.  I'm not asking you to like her or fall in love with her; just tolerate her.  And try not to destroy too much in the process," she finished with a smile.

"Ok, I'll try.  But I'm not going to be her buddy."

"That's fine," Ayeka said with understanding.  "Now, let's go back downstairs before they send my Ryoko up to look for us."

*****

Washu poked her head out of the lab to tell them that it was time to meet the new arrival.  Ayeka thought the announcement sounded like a birth.  They all followed the scientist into the lab as she told them that she had finished reprogramming this Ryoko and that Kagato wouldn't be able to take control of her anymore.  Washu ushered them into a room where the cyan haired beauty was sitting up in a hospital style bed chatting animatedly with the female Tenchi.  She grew quiet as they entered.

"Everybody," Washu began, "Ryoko here has agreed to help us retake Jurai for the Royal Family.  She feels it's was the least she can do after the events of 700 years ago."

Princess Ayeka's eyes got huge and tears began to form in them.  She ran to the pirate and hugged her.  "Thank you Ryoko.  Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Everyone else was stunned by this sudden outburst.  The other Ayeka shook her head and muttered, "It didn't take as long as I thought."

*****

Ryoko concentrated and summoned her partner from her 700-year sleep.  This reality's Sasami and Ayeka gasped in surprise as the cabbit-ship flashed upward from the surface of the lake.  Ryoko-with-all-the-gems motioned for her partner to transform.  With a cry of "Miiyyyyaaaa!" there were suddenly two Ryo-ohki's hovering over the lake.

Washu turned to her princess.  "Is Ay-ohki ready?" she asked.

Ayeka looked at the small white cabbit.  His big pink eyes looked back at her.  "Yes, he say's he's ready."  She picked her friend up and tossed him high into the air.

"Roooowwwwrrrrrrr," he cried as he transformed into his ship form for the first time.

Ayeka admired her friend's new form.  He was slightly larger than Ryo-ohki and his pure white spikes stuck straight out from his sides, making him resemble a four-pointed star.  His dome was a deep emerald green, just a bit darker than Washu's eyes.  She thrilled at the awesome power he represented.  Her demon markings flashed briefly, unnoticed by everyone.

Washu looked at the small fleet, now joined by Kiyone piloting Yagami.  "Ok, here's how we're gonna do this.  The two Ayeka's will travel in Ay-ohki, one Tenchi and one Ryoko in each Ryo-ohki and the rest of use will be in Yagami.  Does that meet with everyone's approval?"  When there was no dissent she said, "Everyone, you have one hour to collect everything you think you'll need.  Let's get busy."

Ayeka turned to her brother, "Are you sure you won't come with us?  The people loved you you know.  They would rally to you if you called."

Katsuhito shook his head.  "My days in Juraian politics are long past.  You, your sister and Tenchi are the future.  The people will come to you as well, wait and see."  He turned to his granddaughter.  Reaching into his robes he withdrew the Tenchi-ken.  "Here, this is yours now.  Use it as I have trained you to; if needed, ask your counterpart for advice.  And when the time comes, give Ryoko back her jewels."

Tenchi bowed deeply and took the Master Key.  "Yes grandfather.  I will do as you ask."  She turned and ran to her Ryoko.  Katsuhito bowed to the space pirate who returned the gesture with a grin.  _Such unions are not unheard of among the ancient Families, _ he thought with a sigh. _But I really wanted some great-grandchildren to spoil. _  He felt a slender arm go around his shoulders.

"Don't worry about it," Washu said.  "Even my Tenchi and Ryoko'll need help conceiving.  A little gene-splice here, another there…  Modern genetics are wonderful.  The only problem will be who gets to be the mommy."

*****

Ayeka settled into Ay-ohki's command chair for the first time.  It felt like she had always been there.  It was like coming home.  _Now I know exactly how Ryoko feels. _ she thought.

_Ayeka?  Are you both ready?  Ryo-ohki says it's time to go. _ came Ay-ohki's thoughts in her head.  The princess smiled with joy.  Yes indeed.  This must be exactly how Ryoko feels.  _Yes, dear.  Let's go! _

With a single cry all three cabbits took off for space, followed closely by the GP patrol ship Yagami.

*****

Meanwhile on Planet Jurai, the one man responsible for inciting the nobles to overthrow the Royal Family turned to one of his lackeys.

"Ready the Soja and assemble the fleet.  We're about to have company."

*****

Author's Notes

First, as promised my apology to Vsdefender for unintentionally including some of his ideas in one of my fics:

An Apology (12/22/2001, 1:45AM)

I find myself with something of a problem.  It's 1:45 in the morning and I can't sleep.  Why you say?  Because earlier tonight I was bored and was rereading some of my favorite fics I've got saved on my hard drive.  One of those just happens to be "Galaxy Police Fraulein Mihoshi" by Vsdefender.  What's that got to do with anything you may ask.  What's BobR rambling about now? _The fact is I owe Vsdefender an apology and credit._  It seems that I may have unintentionally used some of his ideas in my fic "Partners Reunited".  What parts you ask?  I'll list a few:

Mihoshi being hit at point-blank range with a neural stunner.

Using that as a plot device to bring Kiyone into the OAV continuity.

Kiyone having a conversation with Mihoshi's grandfather.

Need I go on?  No, I thought not.

This wouldn't bother me so much if his fic had been posted long before mine; I could shrug it off as a coincidence.  After all, the idea of a Neural Stunner goes way back in the history of Sci-fi.  But his fic was posted just eleven days before mine.  _And I remember reading it before I even started writing mine._  Somewhere my subconscious must have stored his information because when I was rereading his fic earlier tonight I got so upset with the idea that I might have used someone else's material that I had to turn the computer off. Then I tossed and turned until I decided to write this apology.

So Vsdefender, I apologize for using your ideas without your consent. 

Now maybe I can get to sleep.

My conscience wouldn't let me sleep until I got that out of my system. I didn't realize how close our fics were until I reread his, so I feel I need to apologize and give him credit for the original ideas.  (By the way, I edited this apology from the original for clarity.  It _was_ almost 2:00AM when I wrote and posted the first draft.  My mind was fuzzy and I was very upset with myself.)

Review Responses

Priest – There's really not much of a story behind the Ryoko songfic.  I woke up in the morning with the music for Rudolph running through my head.  My first inspiration was "Ryo-ohki the Red-Gemmed Cabbit", but I couldn't fine enough rhyming words.  I changed it to "Ryoko the Red-Gemmed Pirate" and it all kinda fell together.  I would have put the first part of the song in too, but I could only think of three other pirates off the top of my head:

You know Blackbeard and Morgan and Lafitte and…

But do you recall;

The most famous pirate of all?

See, I'm missing about five pirates in there somewhere.

DennisuD – Does this answer your questions, or does it just raise more?

BobR

12/22/2001


	13. An Encounter in Space

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 13

An Encounter in Space

*****

The small formation of ships, three cabbit and a GP patrol cruiser, were passing the orbit of the planet Mars when an unidentified blip appeared on Yagami's sensors.  It was moving very fast toward the inner system.

Kiyone poked at her partner and pointed to the screen.  "Mihoshi, get a reading on that ship.  If it's Juraian we need to know so that we can avoid it before it sees us."

Mihoshi fine-tuned her sensors until the blip resolved itself into an unusual vehicle.  "Kiyone, you'd better take a look at this.  I don't know how to describe it."

"Let me see," said Washu as she pushed her way up from her usual position in the jump seat between the two control chairs.  When she saw the image on the screen she materialized her holo-terminal and began typing rapidly.

Kiyone swung Mihoshi's screen around so that she could see the vehicle too, then fell back into her seat, shaking her head in disbelief.

What the sensors had caught was a sleigh of an ancient design being pulled by eight tiny animals with antlers and hooves.  In the vehicle was an old man, dressed all in red.  With white hair and beard, he was almost as round as he was tall.  At least as much of him that they could see on the screen.  Behind him was a large bag with what appeared to be a teddy bear peeking out of the top.  The entire thing was enclosed in a force-bubble of some sort.

Washu looked back at the screen, astonishment written all over her face.  "Why, I do believe it's Jolly Old Saint Nick, otherwise known as Santa Claus."

"It's Santa Claus.  It's Santa Claus," exclaimed Mihoshi, bouncing up and down and threatening several delicate engine controls with her flailing arms.  Suddenly she stopped.  "Uh, Kiyone?  Who's Santa Claus?" the blonde asked.

The cyborg detective turned to the red headed scientist, "Yes, just who is this person?  Why is he in such an archaic vehicle?  Why does he seem so happy?  And what's in that funny-shaped bottle he's waving at us?"

Washu glanced at her terminal, "Well, it depends on whose legend you believe; the person out there conforms to the American version.  I suppose he can appear however he wants though.  His mission is to bring toys and gifts to the children of the world.  The trick is that he only has twenty-four hours to do it.  One night."

"And that night is?" asked the teal haired GP officer

"Christmas Eve, the night before the Christian holiday of Christmas.  Some coincidence eh?  As for the sled, it's not what it seems.  The energy readings I'm getting correspond to Ryo-ohki; it's actually a pretty powerful vehicle.   And wouldn't you be happy if you were bringing joy to countless children?  The bottle seems to contain a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage of some sort.  I can't quite read the ingredients though…"  Washu leaned over the blonde to fiddle with the magnification controls.

"He visits all the children on Earth in one night?" Mihoshi wondered.

"Yeah, he must take the freeway," the scientist mumbled.

"He brings toys and presents?" the detective asked.

"Mmm Hmm.  That's what the legend says." Washu was still working with the controls trying to zoom in on the soda bottle.

Mihoshi's face fell, "Too bad then."

Washu turned to look at her. "What's too bad airhead?"

"Well, it's too bad that Sasami's with us.  She won't get any gifts," explained the blonde.

"We have two Sasami's with us, remember?  And I think that Santa knows they're here.  He's supposed to know where all the children of Earth are," the scientist pointed out.

"Yeah, but Sasami's Juraian," argued Mihoshi.

Washu was getting frustrated.  "Stop trying to make this difficult.  He knows she's with us."

"But…" the GP said

Washu clenched her teeth, "Shut up Mihoshi.  Just… shut up."

Kiyone broke into the argument, "Washu, he's hailing us.  He says to tell the princesses that their gifts are in the galley.  I wonder what he means by that?"

"Did he say anything else?" the scientist asked.

Kiyone listened to her headset then nodded.  "Well, he said that there's something for Mihoshi in her bunk and wished the rest of us luck on our mission."

Mihoshi scrambled out of her chair and disappeared out the hatch.  She returned a moment later, a giant teddy bear with a big red bow on its head clutched in her hands.  "There's two brand new sets of cooking knives in the galley.  Those must be for the Sasami's.  And there's a bunch of prettily wrapped boxes in the lounge too," the blonde said cheerfully.

The overhead speaker burst into life and a jolly voice came out, "Since you're all not Christians I'll just wish a happy holiday to all, and to all a good night!"  The speaker cut off and the strange vehicle accelerated and disappeared in a twinkle of light.

*****

Author's Notes

I guess it had to be written.  Anyway, back when I was a senior in high school 26 years ago, I wrote a really short story in Larry Niven's Known Space continuum for a project in an English class.  It was about a Belt Miner having a similar encounter with Santa.  That story is now lost in the mists of time, but I decided to try again, this time using my Tenchi story arc.  Although I have this as Chapter 13 in The Great Cabbit Search, it really doesn't add anything to the story but it does use elements from my other stories so it can hardly be classed as a stand-alone.  I hope you all enjoyed it though.  Expect the next official chapter in a day or three or four.

BTW:  The freeway part is in there because I was just listening to Cheech and Chong's Christmas bit on the radio.   And this shouldn't be too hard: can anyone guess what's in the bottle?

Cheech: "Yeah!  I seen the guy.  I jammed with that dude once."

BobR

12/23/2001


	14. Here We Are Again - Part 5

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 14

Here We Are Again

Part 5

*****

The small fleet approached Planet Jurai.  The journey had been oddly uneventful; they hadn't seen any other ships at all.  Not even a patrol ship as they crossed the border.

"All right, here's what we're gonna do," Washu was connected by comm link to the other ships.  Two sets of Ryoko's and Tenchi's and a pair of Ayeka's were visible on separate screens in Yagami's control room.  "Ryoko and Tenchi," she indicated the all-female pair, "you stay in orbit and keep an eye out for any trouble.  Ayeka, you guys follow us down to the surface.  As for you," she turned to the male/female Tenchi & Ryoko, "You two stay out of sight, but within Ryo-ohki's sensor range.  No one suspects that we have an ace in the hole with you guys."

The ships split up, each following Washu's instructions.  One Ryo-ohki entered orbit while Ay-ohki and Yagami started down.  The other cabbit-ship had vanished.

*****

A light started flashing on Mihoshi's sensor panel.  "Washu, I'm getting multiple signals coming from low orbit.  It looks like we've found the fleet."

"Any Tree ships?"

The blonde checked the readings, "Nope, just mechanicals.  Looks like Ayeka was right and the Trees won't function for the rebels."

Washu breathed a sigh of relief.  Mechanical ships were run by computer link from a command ship, not like the sentient Trees of the Royal fleet, which needed a crew.  And computers were easy to beat.

"Ok, you can open fire when we're within range.  But try not to do too much damage, we may need those ships if we win."

Mihoshi brought Yagami's weapons to full power from stand-by and activated her targeting computer.  The targeting screen began to list targets by threat value.  It estimated that the entire engagement would take less than 45 seconds at their current speed with a 70% loss rate on the Juraian side.  As the ranged closed, the icons of six Juraian ships turned from yellow to red and Yagami fired.  The red icons turned blue, indicating that the ships were no longer a threat.

"Good shooting Mihoshi," said Kiyone.

A dozen more icons turned red and Mihoshi went to work.

*****

Aboard Ay-ohki, Princess Ayeka was busy as well.  She'd never fought her ship before and this was all new to her.  Luckily her ship's instincts were working.

Ay-ohki shook as another energy stream hit him.  _Still no damage, Ayeka.  Am I good or what? _ came the ship's thoughts into her head.

"Yes, dear.  But you haven't killed anything yet.  I think its time we did something about that.  Target the closest ship and destroy it."  Ayeka replied.

_As you wish, Princess. _  Ay-ohki charged his main weapon and fired.  Three ships that were in his line of fire simply disappeared.

"Again!" Ayeka commanded, "Kill them all."  Her forehead began to burn with a red light.

*****

Mihoshi looked up from her targeting array, "Kiyone, something's happening over the north polar region.  It looks like another ship just emerged from hyperspace.  It's much bigger than the others."

Washu scrambled to the screen.  "Let me see…  Oh crap.  It's Soja.  I should've known that he was behind this.  I've had this feeling all along."

When Washu said the ship's name, Mihoshi's face went pale.  Kiyone looked at her partner then at the scientist.  "Who's behind this?  What's going on?"

"It's Kagato," Washu said in a low tone, "We've got to warn the others."

*****

Washu wasn't the only one to spot Soja as the ship entered realspace.  Ryoko's heart fell to her stomach.  _Oh no, not him, not now! _  She turned to Tenchi.  The girl was watching the battle on another screen.  "Tenchi, get ready.  We're about to join the fight."

"What do you mean Ryoko?" the girl asked.

Ryoko pointed to Soja, which was closing on them fast.  "He's after me, and it's too late to avoid him.  We have to fight.  Ryo-ohki, attack!" she commanded.

"Miiyyyyaaarrrooow!" the cabbit replied and accelerated toward Soja.

*****

Other eyes were on the battle too.  Tenchi turned to his Ryoko, "Ready dear?  I think that's our cue."

Ryoko grinned at him, already wearing her battlesuit.  "I can hardly wait."

*****

"Ayeka!" Washu's face appeared on one of Ay-ohki's screens.  "We have it under control here, go help Tenchi and Ryoko; Soja's appeared and they're by themselves.  But for Tsunami's sake, be careful.  We can't afford to lose either of you."  Washu clicked off.

"You heard the woman, cabbit; let's go!" Ayeka grinned at the thought of more destruction.  Her counterpart, seated beside her, looked at her askance and wondered just what kind of madwoman she'd been hooked up with.

*****

"Ryoko, Tenchi.  I don't want you to go charging in blindly.  It's already too late to help the others, but he won't kill them, at least not right away.  He wants the gems, remember?  He doesn't know about you two yet, so while he's distracted with your counterparts you can sneak aboard.  The Princesses are on their way as well.  As soon as the two Sasami's and I can get on the ground, I'll send the GP up too, but I have a special mission for them.  Be careful."

Ryoko gave her mother her best smirk, "Yes mom.  Don't worry; Tenchi and I can take care of ourselves."

Washu smirked back, "I know.  That's why I'm worried."  She waggled a finger at her daughter, "And I want Soja intact this time if possible."

"We'll do our best, Washu," Tenchi said.

*****

Ryo-ohki's blasts had little effect on Soja's defenses.  On his command deck, Kagato smiled as he watched the cabbit-ship come closer.  He had something special in store for his errant servant.  He brought his hand down on a control and Soja fired once.  Ryo-ohki went dead in space, badly injured.  _All too easy, _ he thought and teleported over to the other ship.  He found Ryoko unconscious, but not injured.  The human female on the other hand had been tossed around violently.  Although not seriously injured, she was badly banged up.  He smiled as he saw the Master Key tucked into her belt.  _Yes, too easy.  I expected more out of you Ryoko. _  He gathered them both up and retuned to Soja, leaving Ryo-ohki to drift in space.  Whether she lived or not was no concern of his.

Back on Soja's command deck he sealed Ryoko and the girl away for the moment.  The Tenchi-ken he left hanging in the air in front of the female's prison.  Her torment in seeing him draw the power from it would be exquisite.  Extending his senses through Soja he found that the Juraian fleet had been defeated.  That didn't bother him as now that he had all of Ryoko's gems he no longer needed them.  The two ships that had been descending to the surface had disappeared.  No matter, he could deal with them later.  He sat down at his organ to await Ryoko's awakening.

*****

Yagami had come through the battle with little damage.  One of the engines had received a direct hit, but Kiyone had managed to shut it down before it tore itself apart.  There was some minor hull scoring from near misses and the two Sasami's had been shaken up a bit, but otherwise they had made it to the surface in one piece.  The two GP officers landed their ship on a platform adjacent to the Royal Palace, oddly enough the same one they had landed at on that _other_ Jurai…

Washu stood up and walked to the hatch, "Mihoshi, you take Kiyone back to Soja and into the mirror world and free this reality's Washu.  I'll take the Sasami's and try to get to the Emperor and Empress' where they're being held, then to check on Tsunami.  I don't want the other Washu to know about me until Kagato's been defeated, but it doesn't matter if she knows about the others."

The blonde nodded.  "Right Washu.  Come on Kiyone, let's go…  Uh Washu?  How do we get to the mirror world?"

Washu sighed and grabbed Mihoshi's control cube.  A few deft twists and she handed it back to her.  "Here, when you get to the entrance chamber, just drop it like you did before.  I've keyed it to transfer both you and Kiyone.  Now move.  We don't have much time!"

Washu and Sasami watched Yagami, trailing smoke from the damaged engine, take off into the grey sky, then turned and headed into the now undefended palace.

*****

The two Ayeka's, Tenchi and Ryoko peered into Kagato's cathedral.  The galaxy's Most Wanted was playing his pipe organ while this reality's Ryoko and Tenchi were trapped in two of his hourglass prison cells.  Tenchi appeared to be badly bruised and blood was slowly seeping from the corner of her mouth.  The trapped Ryoko just stood watching her former master.  

Kagato finished his piece.  "So Ryoko, you thought that you and this puny Terran could challenge me.  Your mistake, you always were defective.  Now that I have all the jewels, I can use this marvelous power to force the Royal Nursery open and take the Tsunami unit.  Even in rebellion you have given me what I wanted."

Purple haired Ayeka started forward only to be held back by her other self.  "No, if you go out there you'll only be in the way.  We've been here before, let us handle this."

Kagato pointed a finger at Tenchi, "You care for this girl, eh, Ryoko?  I don't know how you did it, but I can't directly control you anymore.  However, there are other methods of control…"  A beam of energy shot from his hand and hit Tenchi in the abdomen.  She screamed like a tortured soul.

"STOP!  I'll do anything you say.  Please Kagato, stop," Ryoko wept.

Blue haired Ayeka had seen enough; she stepped out into the open.  "If you want Tsunami, you'll have to go through me to get her, villain."

"Ah, the beautiful Princess Ayeka.  I was wondering when you'd show up," Kagato said in a mocking tone without even turning around.  "Welcome to my humble home.  See, Ryoko?  You're friend is going to save you both."  He turned and faced the princess.  "My compliments on your new hair style.  You will now tell me how to open the Nursery without damaging any of the Trees and you will tell me how to control the power of Tsunami."

"Over my dead body," Ayeka hissed.

Kagato smiled at her, "If that's how you wish it.  You could have prevented much by just agreeing to my demands, but I suppose that was always out of the question."  He shot an energy bolt at the princess.  Ayeka casually batted it aside with her open hand.

"Wh…  Where did you get that power?  It's not of Jurai…"

Ayeka ripped the tiara off her head, showing her markings, now glowing bright crimson.  "This…  This is where it comes from," she snarled at him.  Clenching her fist, she formed a purple energy sword, which she brought to a ready position.

"I didn't know she could do that," Ryoko whispered to Tenchi.

"Me either," he whispered back.

"Does she know how to use it?" Ryoko wondered

"I don't think so.  She's going to need help."

Ryoko nodded and energized her own sword.  She moved forward to stand next to the princess.

Kagato smiled, "Ryoko.  Escaped so soon?  I'll have to try harder next time."

Ryoko pointed her blade toward the hourglass prison where her counterpart was still contained.  "I guess you'll have to try doubly hard."

Kagato smiled evilly, "You know splitting yourself lessens your power.  I'm more than a match for you now."

"I think not."  The air in front of Ryoko began to form into the three blades of her Lighthawk Wings.  She called back over her shoulder, "Tenchi, you and the other Princess free Ryoko and the other Tenchi.  This is their battle too."

"This boy is Tenchi?  But Tenchi's a female.  How can this be?  Where is all this power coming from?  The Jurai power is completely cut off.  This can't be happening!"

Ryoko chuckled, "We've heard all this before, the last time you died."

"The last time I…?" he noticed the three jewels on Ryoko.  "Who are you people?" he screamed.

"Your worst nightmare," growled Ayeka, showing a small fang, "two demons with an attitude."

_Funny, I never noticed those before… _ thought Ryoko.  Then she shrugged mentally, _Makes her look kinda sexy though… _

As Tenchi and Ayeka ran across the floor to help the other two, Ryoko and her princess engaged Kagato.  It was soon obvious that the princess knew nothing about swords other than a few very basic moves.  Obvious to everyone but her anyway.  But what she lacked in skill she more than made up for in persistence.  Kagato was finding it difficult to fend off Ryoko's skillful attacks while watching out for Ayeka's clumsy attempts.

*****

Kiyone and Mihoshi had reached the room in which Washu was trapped.  Mihoshi pointed out the giant stone snakes to her partner.  "Watch out for those guys, Kiyone.  They like to resist arrest."  The teal haired GP wondered just what her partner was talking about.

"Ok, now how do we release Washu?" Kiyone asked, keeping an eye on the snakes, which had yet to show any signs of life.

"Well gee, I dunno," answered Mihoshi, tapping her cheek with a finger.

"Well, what did you do last time?"

Mihoshi pulled out her cube.  "Well, I twisted this like this and this and…"

The snake's eyes lit up.  With a hiss one went after Kiyone while the other struck at Mihoshi.  Kiyone used her body's marvelous agility to leap out of the way, a move echoed by her partner.  _I never knew she was so flexible, _ Kiyone thought.

"Ok, we've got their attention, now what?" Kiyone called to Mihoshi.

"I keep twisting until Washu comes to the rescue," the blonde called back.

"This is no way to run an operation…" Kiyone moaned to herself.

*****

Upon reaching the trapped Ryoko, Tenchi took a swipe at the enclosure with his Tenchi-ken.  It barely left a scratch.  He cried out to the pirate, "Come on Ryoko, you can break this.  I know you can, you did it before…"

Ryoko concentrated, her hair flying about as if in a great wind.  Suddenly the material shattered.  Still radiating power she flew to her Tenchi.  One hit with her fist shattered that enclosure as well.  The girl collapsed into her arms, barely conscious.  "Ayeka, take Tenchi and find someplace safe.  It's my turn at him now."

Tenchi looked up at her in great pain.  "No," she said.  "I've got to defeat him myself or this timeline won't be restored."

"But…"

"She's right Ryoko, she has to be the one."  Tenchi pulled off the ring Tsunami had given him and gave it to the girl.  "Here, this will form Juraian battle armor.  Use it until you master your own."

She smiled at him and put the ring on her finger.  Immediately the armor formed around her.  _It looks just like mine, _ he thought,  _except it looks better on her. _  He smacked himself in the head.  

_Get your mind out of the gutter husband!  She's you! _ came Ryoko's thoughts in his head.

He hadn't been paying attention to the fight and was glad to hear his wife.  _Ryoko!  Tenchi's gotta finish this herself; tell her how to form the Lighthawk Wings! _

_Are you sure?  Why can't you tell her? _ Ryoko asked.

_Because I've never actually learned how, Tsunami _implanted_ the knowledge in me.  I can only do it under extreme stress, like an instinct.  And besides, Tsunami's not here to tell her herself. _ he explained.

Ryoko concentrated for a moment, leaving Kagato to fend off another awkward attack by the princess.  _Ok, I've unlocked the part of her mind that can use the energy, but I can't _tell_ her how to use it; she has to learn that by herself.  It's probably exactly what Tsunami did to you. _

_It'll have to be enough…_ he thought.

*****

Kiyone, Mihoshi and Little Washu watched the battle from the other side.  Some of the comments the blonde made, such as something about Ryoko and stone made the little scientist wonder just what was going on.  When she saw that there was two of everyone except Kagato she became even more confused.  She vowed to herself that she'd get to the bottom of this one way or another.

*****

Tenchi stood unsteadily next to Ryoko.  She knew somehow that she had to be the one to finish this.  She held out her hand and her Tenchi-ken flew to it.  Igniting the blade, she joined the fray.

Kagato was now being pressed on three sides.  But the demon princess and strange Ryoko seemed to be backing off, allowing the Terran female a chance at him.  He grinned to himself.  This should be easy…  The female Tenchi blocked a blow from his sword.  He brought up his other hand and sent another energy blast into her body.  She went flying backwards into a pillar, cracking it in two.  Yes, too easy…  He turned his attention back to the other two females.  Ryoko was grinning from ear-to-ear, she pointed her sword to something behind him.  He whirled around to find the Terran emerging from a cloud of dust, obviously injured but still alive.  The air shimmered before her as a set of three Lighthawk Wings formed.

Tenchi looked at the sword hilt in her hand, then tossed it away.  She knew she wouldn't need it with the power she felt flowing through her.  Holding out her arms, two of the energy blades merged with her, forming a new type of armor; the remaining blade floated in the air in front of her.  Something in her mind told her exactly what to do next…

Kagato turned away from the girl, this was too much for him to handle.  Ryoko stood in front of him shaking her head, her own Lighthawk Wings glowing bright.  She gestured back to Tenchi.  Kagato now realized she'd just been toying with him, waiting until the girl found her own power. With a sigh of resignation he turned back around.  He could still win this, but his chances were looking slimmer and slimmer.  He saw that the girl was now holding a glowing blade in her grip.  A glance to the side showed him that it wasn't the relatively weak blade generated by the Master Key.

"Let's end this now, girl," he said in a raspy voice.

Tenchi nodded and assumed a ready position.  With a yell the two charged each other.  Both blades connected with their targets, but Tenchi's armor healed itself and her almost immediately.  Kagato wasn't so lucky.  He turned and smiled at her.  "And so it ends; it's been a wild ride.  You've won girl, for now…"  With a hiss his body split in two and disappeared.

A small version of Washu and the two GP officers suddenly appeared on the deck.  

Ryoko ran to Washu.  "Mom!"

The diminutive scientist looked startled, "Ryoko?  You called me mom!"  Tears formed in her eyes.  She noticed the second Ryoko, grinning like an idiot.  "And you are?"

Still grinning, Ryoko replied, "I guess you might say I'm your niece.  I'll let _my_ mom do all the explaining."

Washu walked up to the female Tenchi, "Hello, my name is Washu.  Do you want to be my guinea pig?"

Ryoko began to laugh.  Yep, things were coming along nicely.  And this time they hadn't destroyed Soja either.  _Ryoko, bring everyone down to the throne room please, we've got Ayeka's parents there. _ came a sending from her mother.  "Hey, everybody!  Mom says she has the Royal Family in the throne room.  We're to meet her there."

Purple haired Ayeka grabbed Tenchi and headed for the exit.  "Well, what's everyone waiting for?"

Tenchi snatched at Ryoko as she flew past the pirate, but missed.  The other Ryoko was still smiling; yes, normal was good.

*****

The group had gathered in the Royal throne room where both Sasami's and the purple haired Ayeka greeted their parents with unrestrained joy.  The Royal trio looked thinner than the others remembered, but appeared to be unharmed.  Ayeka introduced Tenchi and described how Ryoko had helped defeat Kagato.  Everyone got hugs from Misaki.

The other Ryoko and Tenchi took their Ayeka aside.

"Where did you learn to make a sword like that," Tenchi asked.

Ayeka clenched and unclenched her fist several times, forming and reforming the purple blade.  "I don't know.  Something Washu said a while back about all of us complementing each other made me wonder…"

"Well, you'll have to start training with Grandpa now.  Can you form Lighthawk Wings too?" her husband asked.

"I think so, but I'm too afraid to try yet.  I came close this time though, I was so angry."

"Hey Ayeka!" Ryoko smiled, showing her fangs.  She tapped one with the tip of her finger.

Ayeka's hands flew to her mouth, her eyes got wide.  "What's happening to me," she wailed.

The cry drew the attention of Big Washu who wandered over to see what was going on.  She examined the princess' teeth and forehead markings.  "Hmm.  It seems that each time you use your power, you take on more demon characteristics."

"Am I going to grow a tail?" Ayeka asked, starting to cry.  Ryoko got a sparkle in her eye.

Washu laughed.  "Does Mara have a tail?  No.  That's only in fairy tales.  But seriously, you have to learn how to control that power.  Take it easy, let it flow and grow naturally, don't try to force it."  She handed a tiara to the princess.  "Here, I believe you dropped this."

*****

"We have to destroy Soja now, you know.  It's too powerful to let any one person or government control.  We'd just have another Kagato on our hands," Little Washu told the others.

Big Washu spoke up, "I agree.  Kagato made too many changes from the original design.  It needs to go, it's too dangerous."

"How do we do it?" asked Tenchi.

"Well, as my counterpart and I see it, we need to move Soja to Earth's system and do the deed there," Big Washu explained.  "The energy discharge should attract the attention of the GP and this reality's Mihoshi should appear, correcting another inconsistency.  And then we go home."

"But what about the cabbits Washu?" asked one of the Sasami's

"Kagato kept extensive data on everything.  I tapped into Soja's databanks; the cabbits didn't originate here either," Big Washu answered

"That's right, the only one that's original to here is my Ryo-ohki," piped up Little Washu.

"But," continued Big Washu, "he did discover what appears to be the point of origin for them.  We'll go home for a few weeks R&R then try there.  It's almost at the end of the Reality Hopper's range though.  This may be my last chance to find out what happened."

"That's one of the reasons he wanted Tsunami's power.  As good as he was, he couldn't create a machine to take him across the realities.  He just couldn't compete with me," cackled Little Washu.

"We are the Greatest Scientific Geniuses in all the Universes!" both Washu's said at once.

Tenchi put his head down in his hands and began to weep, the only thing missing were the little Washu puppets that _other_ Washu had had.  And he guessed it wouldn't be long before they appeared too.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Ok, that's it for this reality.  One more to go.  This was supposed to be two chapters, but I really got into writing it and couldn't find a good place for a break.  As far as a relationship between this reality's Tenchi and Ryoko, I think Katsuhito and Washu were jumping to conclusions.  They've actually seen no evidence that they'll be anything but good friends like Ayeka and Tenchi.  Remember, one of the things OAV Tenchi always wanted was a return to a normal life, and life with Ryoko is anything _but_ normal as the other Tenchi is discovering.  But who knows?  There are always infinite possibilities, these stories pretty much write themselves as I go; perhaps I'll revisit this reality sometime in the future to see what's happening with them.  What do you think?

Review Responses

DennisuD – Sorry, I thought your first name was Dennis, I hope I didn't offend you.  I'll get it right next time, I promise.  I've read fics by all of the authors on your list except Michael Haney.  The name's sorta familiar, but I don't recall ever reading anything by him.  I'll check his stuff out though.  I'll get you my lists as soon as I can get them done.  There are just so many wonderful authors out there…

Agent_86 – Absolutely correct.  Too bad there's no prize.

BobR

12/26/2001


	15. Interlude

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 15

Interlude

*****

Washu sat in her lab looking at the results of her latest try to access the reality that Kagato's data said the cabbits originated from.  Since it was so far from her home reality she was having problems establishing a connection to it with the Reality Hopper.

She was startled out of her reverie by a young voice, "Watcha doin' Professor Washu?  Anything I can help with?"

"Er, no Skuld. I think this is a bit beyond your current abilities," she answered.  _Even a bit beyond mine I'm beginning to think… _

"Well, it won't hurt to take a look."  The little goddess crawled under the control panel.  "Ew.  It's dirty under here."

"Dirty?  Not in MY lab.  Let me see…"  Washu joined her student under the panel.  "That's not dirt, it's carbon.  Something's been arcing under here."  Washu dug around in the wiring for a minute.  "Ah ha!  Look here Skuld; see where these two wires cross?  The insulation's melted off.  I've been drawing too much current and didn't even know it, no wonder the last transition was so rough.  It's a wonder we didn't get stranded in that last Reality too."

"What're we going to do about it Professor?" the young Norn asked.

"What _you're_ going to do about it is find some larger gauge wire.  Then _we're_ going to rewire this baby to give it more power!"  For some reason the words _"I don't think so, Tim!" _along with the image of a bearded man in a flannel shirt echoed through her mind.  She shook it off and patted the little goddess on her head.  "You know Skuld, I'm glad you chose to be my student.  Sometimes I can't see past the end of my nose."

*****

Tenchi and Ryoko were relaxing in the Onsen.  Tenchi was leaning back against the wooden decking, dozing on and off while his wife was splashing around in deeper water.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko called.  "When will Ayeka be done with her training session?"

His wife's question woke him up from a half-sleep.  "Wha…?  Oh, about another hour I guess.  Grandpa's just showing her some of the basic forms today.  Nothing too difficult.  Why?  Are you lonely?"

She paddled over to him and threw her arms around his neck.  "No, never with you around dear; I just thought it'd be fun to go watch her.  Doesn't that sound like a good idea?"

Tenchi shook his head, "No, it'll distract and embarrass her.  I know it does me sometimes when you two are watching.  And Grandpa always takes advantage of it too."

Ryoko considered for a moment, "We can hide in the bushes like Ayeka and I do with you someti… Oops, I wasn't supposed to say anything."

"You two hide and watch me?  How long has this been going on?"

"About a year, maybe a little longer.  Sometimes it's just me though, Ayeka has other things to do occasionally." 

"About… a… year…?  Ryoko, that's before…"

"Yep.  We didn't fight every time we were together you know.  So wadda ya say?  Can we?" She smiled at him playfully and fluttered her eyelids.

Tenchi sighed with resignation, "All right.  I guess if we're caught, Grandpa'll turn it into some kind of lesson for all of us."

*****

Ayeka was sweating profusely.  All she could think about was how good a soak in the Onsen would feel when she was done.  Even though this was only her third lesson with her brother, she had gained a new respect for both Tenchi and Ryoko and their ability to handle a sword.  The smoothness of the moves she had seen them make compared to her own awkward attempts was like the grace of a hunting tiger to the stumbling of a kitten.

"No, Ayeka.  For this move you hold the weapon with both hands and lead with your right foot.  Watch now."  Katsuhito demonstrated again.  "See?  Now you try."

This time she completed the move correctly, if a bit stiffly.

Her brother nodded his head, "Very good.  Now I want you to sit and watch."  He pointed to a log under a tree.

"Watch what brother?" she asked, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

The old priest smiled at her.  "Tenchi!  Ryoko!  Come out here please."

There was a rustling in the bushes as the heads of her two spouses popped up.

"Told you so," Tenchi whispered.

"Shut up!" Ryoko whispered back as the two got to their feet.

Katsuhito handed each of them a wooden practice sword.  "Since you two are so keen to watch your wife's progress, you might as well join in the lesson.  I want you both to show her how you perform the moves I've just demonstrated, and the counter-moves."

They both bowed to him and started the practice routine.

"Wait!" the old man stopped them.  "I want you to practice on each other, not the air.  I want you to spar; show Ayeka what you can do.  And Ryoko, no special powers."

The ex-pirate growled at him good-naturedly and turned to face her husband.  "Don't take this personally dear, but I'm gonna kick your butt."

Tenchi smiled at her, "You and what army?"

Ryoko charged him and he dodged out of the way.  Soon the sound of wood-on-wood combat echoed through the forest.

*****

Mihoshi and Kiyone had gone into town to see a movie.  Kiyone had invited her boyfriend, Osyri, to visit from GP Headquarters and Mihoshi's Grandfather had cleared it.  They were to meet Mihoshi's boyfriend 'Crash' at a fast-food restaurant and go to the movie from there.

"So Mihoshi, Crash is an odd name.  Does it mean something?" Kiyone's beau asked.

"Well, sorta," the blonde replied.  "It's not his real name of course, it's a nickname.  He's the owner of a charter air service; you know, the kind that takes tourists around to show them the sights.  He flies a helicopter now but he used to be a race driver though, that's where he got the name."

Kiyone shook her head in disbelief.  "And you say he ran into you in the market; that's how you met?"

"Yep.  He's always running into things and dropping things.  Just like me."  Mihoshi started giggling.

"What movie are we going to see?" Osyri asked.

Mihoshi tapped her cheek a few times, trying to remember.  "Oh, some American film, 'Toy Story 2' I think it's called."

_I wonder what that's about, _ Kiyone thought.

*****

Sasami was sitting in the living room watching television.  One of her favorite shows was on and she hadn't seen it in several weeks.  The two cabbits were cuddled on the couch with her, snoozing peacefully.  The goddess Tokimi came wandering out of the kitchen and took a seat on the couch, narrowly missing the cabbits.

"I don't understand how mortals can abide all this inactivity," she said to the little princess.

Sasami leaned back on the couch, her eyes still locked on the television, "Well, we have periods of frantic activity separated by relaxation.  It's just the way we are."

"Mortal lives are so short though, shouldn't you try to experience everything you can?"

The princess' voice deepened slightly and she turned to look at the goddess.  "Remember who you're talking to 'sister'.  And yes, mortals try to do as much as they can, but where's the fun in being so worn out all the time that you can't enjoy the experience?  We 'mortals' don't have the boundless energy of higher beings."

Tokimi was taken aback at the tone of the response, "I wasn't speaking of you personally Sasami.  I was speaking of mortals in general."

"I know," said the little girl, turning once again to the TV.  "And some of that was Tsunami putting words in my head.  I hate it when she does that."

Tokimi chuckled.  "See, even my sister can't help sticking her nose into things.  It must run in the family.  So Sasami, what are you watching?  Do you mind if I join you?"

The girl nodded happily.  "Wow Tokimi!  You've really learned how to fit in since we've been gone.  And your speech has gotten less stilted too."

"I have been spending quite a bit of time in Washu's library, learning customs and such.  I think I'm about ready to try to go out on my own."

Sasami scooted over on the couch, put her arm around the goddess and gave her a hug, "I think so too.  And I think you'll do just fine no matter what you do."

Tokimi returned the gesture.  "I hope so, I'm not ready to go home yet.  Now I understand what's attracted my sisters to this dimension."

*****

A beautiful, dark-skinned face framed by platinum hair poked itself out of one of the screens in Washu's lab.  Urd saw her sister's stocking feet sticking out from under a machine.  She grinned as an idea popped into her head.

"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" she said quietly as she moved her finger across the unguarded tootsies.

Wham!  Skuld's head hit something as she tried to sit up suddenly.  "Ouch!  What?  Urd!  What do you think you're doing here?"

"What?  Can't I come visit my favorite sister?" Urd said with a hurt tone in her voice.

"Yeah, right.  Like that's the truth," Skuld muttered snidely, dusting herself off.

Urd smiled at her little sister.  "Well, actually I came to see how the happy trio was doing.  It's been a quite a while since I've been here."

Just then Washu came walking through a door from the outer lab.  "Urd!  Good to see ya."  The little scientist's eyes suddenly lit up with an idea.  "Say, maybe you can help me with a small problem I have."

The tall goddess held up her hands and began to back away.  "Uh, I don't think so Lady Washu.  I'm not very good with machines.  Now if you want a love potion or something…"

Washu chuckled, "Oh, it's nothing like that.  You see, there's a certain Mazoku I owe a 'favor' to and I'd appreciate your input on the subject.  Let me explain…"  She grabbed the other goddess by the arm and dragged her out of earshot of Skuld.

Skuld sighed, "They never let me have any fun.  Hmmph."  She scooted back under the console.  Soon a happy whistling was heard from under the equipment.

*****

Kiyone walked out of the movie theater shaking her head in disbelief.  _Perfect, just perfect.  I can't believe we just watched a movie about clumsy, ditzy cartoon characters.  It's just the type of thing Mihoshi and 'Crash' would enjoy. _

Osyri whispered in her ear, "You know dear, I kind of liked that show.  Earth can produce some amazing things for such a backwater place."  He squeezed her hand.

She looked down at his hand in her artificial one.  "Yes, it can.  It certainly can…"

*****

Tenchi lowered his bruised body into the warm water for the second time today.  He grimaced in pain as his backside hit the bottom of the pool.  "Jeez, she could've taken it a little easier on me," he moaned as sore muscles started to unkink in the heat.

"Hey!  Look who's talkin'," came Ryoko's voice from behind him.  A pair of slender arms snaked around his neck.  "You roughed me up pretty good too, you know."

He tilted his head back to kiss his wife, "Yeah, I think we both got the short end of it, but you heal faster than I do.  I hurt all over."

"Mmmm.  We'll have to do something about that now, won't we?" she purred in his ear as her fingers began to wander down his chest.

Tenchi scrambled to get out of her clutches.  "Ryoko!  It's the middle of the afternoon, what if someone walks in on us?"

The ex-pirate assumed an innocent look, "Don't worry dear, Ayeka's locking the doors as we speak.  It's just the three of us for the next hour or so."  Her eyes got a predatory gleam and she laughed evilly as she lunged for him.

Tenchi had a huge grin on his face as he dove under the water, his aches all but forgotten.

Walking back from the entrance, Ayeka heard Ryoko's giggles from the far side of the pool.  _That woman!  She couldn't wait for me to get there to start.  Well, I'll just have to think of some way to get back at her. _  She smiled in anticipation.

*****

"Kiyone, can you and Osyri get back to Tenchi's on your own?  Crash wants me to stay in town with him tonight," the blonde GP asked her partner.

"I guess so Mihoshi.  Will you be all right?  You'll be home tomorrow, won't you?"

Mihoshi giggled and looked at her boyfriend, "Maybe.  Maybe not.  Don't worry Kiyone, I'm a big girl and can take care of myself."  She patted her jacket pocket where her control cube was stashed.

Kiyone nodded agreement.  "Ok Mihoshi.  We'll see you whenever you get back.  Have a good time you two."

*****

Later that evening everyone settled down for dinner.  Tenchi, Ayeka and Ryoko looked exhausted, but happy.  Kiyone was snuggled up against Osyri with a content look on her face; even Washu was in a good mood.

"Listen up everyone, Skuld found the source of the problem I was having with the Reality Hopper and we fixed it.  As soon as we're done with our mini-vacation we can go on with our search," the diminutive scientist announced.

_You mean _your_ search, don't you? _ came her daughter's voice in her head.

Washu looked over at Ryoko, who was busy shoving food into her mouth_.  Oh come on now, you're having fun on these trips too.  It gives you time alone with Tenchi and the princess doesn't it?  And you don't even have to lock the doors to keep us out. _

Ryoko didn't respond, but her face turned slightly red.

Washu smiled at her daughter's discomfiture and continued, "I think another week and we'll be ready.  How do you all feel about that?"

There were several moans from various people, but everyone nodded in agreement.

"It's settled then.  One more week and we're off."

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter out.  I'd like to say it's because of writer's block or something, but I'd be lying.  The real reason is because I've gotten no new reviews lately (except from my stalwarts Priest, DennisuD and Agent_86, thanks guys.)  That certainly doesn't keep me from writing, but it does slow me down a bit.  Maybe it's just the time of year and everyone's too busy.  I don't know, I guess it really doesn't matter.  

But anyway, instead of jumping straight into the next (and last) reality our heroes are going to visit, I decided to let them spend a little time at home (and maybe set the stage for my next series.)  I picture Kiyone's boyfriend as a civilian GP employee, perhaps an analyst of some sort.  I have a hard time thinking up new names that's why I don't introduce too many new characters.  And before anyone asks, yes he knows she's a cyborg.  She's not the type to hide information like that from someone she cares about; and no, he won't be going with them. 

What did you think of the last reality?  Did it work with a female Tenchi?

Review Responses

Priest – I'd like to revisit that reality in the future.  It holds some interesting possibilities I think.  And you're right, it was Tommy Chong.  I originally had that, but changed it at the last minute because it didn't look right.  I have certain rules I live by that I'm continuously breaking:

1.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it 

     (that's the one I broke when I put Cheech's name to that quote.)

2.  If it doesn't fit, get a bigger hammer.

3.  If a 5 pound sledge doesn't make it fit, don't try to force it.  

     (ask my wife about a sledgehammer, a bike rack and the hitch receiver on her van.  We almost had to cut the rack off with a welding torch, but a little heat from the torch, some die lube and a bigger hammer…)

Agent_86 – Well, there's only one reality left to visit in this fic.  The next one is starting to shape up though, at least in my head…

Tetsurouga – I'm glad you like them.  Hell, I'm glad anyone likes them, let alone reads them.  Thanks.

DennisuD – My wife got me the Photon DVD for Christmas.  All I can say is… how odd.  I liked most of the characters except Photon himself.  They could have done a better job with him.  Maybe it was just the dub though.  Oh, I just saw 'Ruin Explorers', a Slayers-ish Anime; it may even have been the same creative team; it certainly looks like it.  It's very good; I highly recommend it.  (Not as much fan-service as Photon though.)

Vsdefender – I know, I thought about all that before I wrote the apology, but my conscience wouldn't let me sleep until I at least acknowledged that you came up with the idea before me.  Feel free to use whatever you wish; I'm a great believer in 'open source' stuff.  As far as the Tenchi and Ryoko thing, I agree with you.  I just didn't want to push that type of relationship so soon after I established a relationship with my trio.  I think it may happen though, Washu and Yosho can see things that others can't…

BobR

01/02/2002


	16. Lost and Found

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own any rights to them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 16

Lost and Found

*****

Washu tapped Kiyone on the shoulder and nodded.  For the last time Yagami sank into the field of the Reality Hopper.

Yagami made a perfect transition this time, no ill effects were felt by anyone.  Kiyone breathed a sigh of relief as Mihoshi brought the engines up to power and the ship assumed an orbit around the Earth.

Mihoshi smacked the side of her console with her open palm, "Kiyone, something's wrong.  I'm getting no life readings from the planet."

"That can't be right," her partner said, looking over her own board.  "Must be a sensor glitch or something."

The blonde shook her head, "Diagnostics check out ok.  There's just nothing there to read."

Kiyone activated her viewscreen.  Instead of a blue-green world she saw nothing but brown and gray.  Washu looked over her shoulder and pointed to a familiar area in Japan.

"Take us down please.  But I don't think we're going to like what we find," the scientist said in a hushed voice.

*****

Yagami made a textbook landing at the location of the Masaki house.  Only there was no house, no shrine, no anything; just barren hills and blowing dust.  The ship's boarding ramp lowered and Washu, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka and Kiyone descended.

Standing at the bottom of the ramp, the group stared at the desolation around them with wide eyes.  

Washu was taking readings using an instrument Tenchi had never seen before.  "No radiation, no man-made chemicals, no biological agents; in fact, no biology at all," the scientist muttered.

 "What happened here Little Washu?  Was it a war?" her son-in-law asked her.

"No Tenchi.  At least not on this planet.  There _is_ a fossil record, so life did exist at some time, but whatever happened, it occurred a long time ago.  Before your species developed any kind of civilization.  You don't exist here; you can't exist here."  She turned started back up the ramp.  "There's nothing here for us, let's go."

"Where to Washu?" asked Ayeka as she walked beside the redhead.  "Home?"

"No, Kagato's data specifically pointed out this reality as the origin of those cabbits and other artifacts.  We'll start with Jurai."   The ramp retracted and the hatch clanged shut behind them with a frightening finality.

*****

Once again Yagami flew through hyperspace between Earth and Jurai.  Kiyone was becoming so familiar with the route that she felt she could fly it in her sleep.

_How odd, _ she thought, _no message traffic, no other ships, no EM emissions at all except from the stars themselves.  It's like nothing exists here… _

*****

The group looked down on the planet Jurai through Yagami's viewports.  What they saw brought tears to the eyes of Sasami and Ayeka.  Jurai was just as dead as Earth.

"What happened here Washu?" the eldest princess asked in a low tone.

Washu replied in the same tone, "I don't know Ayeka, but I'm going to find out.  I promise you."

Kiyone came charging into the observation room.  "Mihoshi found life signs on the planet!  Two humanoids; by the readings they're Juraian!"

Washu turned and headed for the exit. "Maybe now we'll get some answers.  Take us down."

*****

Yagami settled in what used to be an open field outside the Royal Palace.  In the distance stood two thin figures, waiting.

Once again, Kiyone was the first one down the ramp to greet whoever was there.  The others watched as the GP Colonel walked up to the two shrouded figures.  There was a brief conversation and then…

"Washu, you and the others better get out here," Kiyone called over the comlink.

As the group approached the waiting trio, one of them fell to their knees.  The sound of crying could be heard across the barren plain.  Suddenly the person stood up and ran to the group.  She stopped in front of Sasami and fell to her knees again.

"Sasami.  Is it really you?  And Ayeka.  What have you done to your beautiful hair?" came a familiar, but raspy voice from under the hood.

Sasami's face assumed a startled look.  "M… mother?  Mommy, is that you?"

"Oh Sasami.  Did you get sent to this horrid place too?  But you have a working ship, how can this be?  Are you here to rescue us?"

Sasami looked over at Washu, who shook her head.

"No mommy.  I'm not the Sasami you think I am.  And Ayeka isn't the same person either."  The small princess knelt down in the dirt herself.  She slowly pushed the hood back to reveal the gaunt face of Queen Misaki.  She brushed the dirty, matted blue hair back from the woman's face and started crying herself.  The little girl threw herself into the woman's arms.  She looked up at Washu and asked, "How can this happen Washu?  What's Misaki doing here?"

"I can answer that," said Kiyone, walking over to the group.  The other figure was leaning heavily on the GP.  "They were exiled here by Kagato when he usurped the throne.  This is Azusa, Emperor of Jurai."

Ayeka's hand flew up to her mouth, "That means…"

Kiyone nodded, "Yes, these are the Empress's missing parents.  It's no wonder no one could find them.  How was Kagato able to transport them here though?"

"Well," Washu said, "he did have the ability to use the Juraian power.  But I suspect he had help."

"Not that Xellos guy you keep talking about?" asked Ryoko.

"No, he may like to pull his tricks, but unless he was really mad about something even he wouldn't do something like this.  He's not the only one with the power to do this though, I can think of about three others off-hand."

"What are we going to do?" Ayeka asked.

"First, we take them back to Yagami and get them fed and cleaned up," Kiyone replied.

"And then we'll see," finished Washu, helping Misaki to her feet.

*****

"Are they gonna be ok Washu?" Sasami asked with tears in her eyes as she watched the Emperor and Empress of Jurai sleeping in the bed that Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka had been sharing.

"Sure thing, Sasami.  Some good food, clean water and a little rest, they'll all be as good as new.  At least that reality's Kagato left them shelter and enough food.  But if we hadn't come along when we did, it may have been a different story."

"How are we going to get them home?" Sasami wondered.  "We could take them with us I suppose and take them home from there."

Washu laughed quietly, "Do you really want your father to meet this Azusa?  It'll happen if they come back with us you know.  Both are just pig-headed enough to demand it."

"Then what are we gonna do?" pleaded the princess,  "We can't leave them here.  That Sasami misses her parents, and Empress Ayeka really wants to go back to Earth to be with her Tenchi and Ryoko."

Washu patted her on her head and closed the door to the stateroom.  "I know little one, I know.  I have an idea, but first I have to make a phone call."

"A phone call?"

"Trust me."  Washu snapped her fingers and a phone materialized out of nowhere.  She picked up the receiver and punched in a phone number.

"Yo.  This is Washu.  Let me talk to the Big Guy," she covered the mouthpiece with her hand and winked at Sasami.  "I'll make things happen, don't worry."

"Yeah, it's me.  Hey, I need a favor.  I've got a couple of people I need transport for.  No, not Earth; Jurai.  Yeah.  Yeah, that'll be fine.  All right, I owe ya one.  Thanks."  Washu hung up the phone, which promptly disappeared.

A few moments later Kiyone appeared in the passageway, escorting a familiar figure.  "Washu, I found this person wandering around inside Yagami.  When I asked her how she got here, she asked for you."

"Hello Lady Washu, it's nice to see you again," said the sandy haired woman.

"Ah, that's right.  You two have never met.  Kiyone, this is Skuld's other older sister, Belldandy. Her father sent her to take Azusa and Misaki home."

The Goddess smiled and bowed to the GP officer.  "Pleased to meet you."

*****

Tenchi and the others were glad to see the Goddess First Class again.  They hadn't seen her since their wedding.  Sasami asked Bell if she wanted to help make dinner, a task which the Goddess immediately agreed to.

After the meal, Belldandy took the little princess aside, whispered into her ear and put something in her hand.  Sasami smiled and nodded joyfully.  The goddess turned back to the Juraian Emperor and his wife, "When ever you two are ready, I'll take you home."

Both said that now would be as good a time as any, and since they had no belongings to carry, they could leave right away.  Belldandy spoke a few phrases in her language and made some cryptic passes with her hands.  A glowing beam descended from the heavens and the three began to float skyward.

"Hey Bell, when we get back, you and your crew should come spend a weekend with us," Washu called, cupping a hand to her mouth.

"I'd like that Lady Washu.  It's a date." Belldandy responded.

The trio faded away.  Washu sighed and turned back to her own group.

"Couldn't you have transported them like that Washu?" Tenchi asked.

The scientist walked past him, heading back into the ship, "No, my powers don't work the same as hers.  Tokimi probably could've done it, and maybe Tsunami; but I don't have any way of calling them here.  Bell's dad is pretty easy, He exists in the same form across all realities.  And He's only a phone call away you know.  Now, let's go exploring and see what we can find in some of these ruins."

*****

Empress Ayeka was seated on her throne listening to the droning of the nobles petitioning her for favors.  Not for the first time she wished there was some way she could leave all this and join Tenchi and Ryoko back on Earth.  The _others_ that had entered her life for such a short time had shown her what was possible and she wanted it with all her heart, but her duties to the Crown and the Empire prevented it.

Out of nowhere a beam of light shot down.  Silhouetted in it were three beings.  As their feet touched the ground the light faded and a great silence fell over the hall.  The Empress of Jurai shot to her feet, tears in her eyes.

"Mother, Father!" she cried.  She ran down the steps and fell to her knees before them.  "You are my parents, aren't you?" she asked, looking up at them.

Misaki gathered her daughter up in her arms, "Yes dear.  Thanks to some friends of yours, we're finally home."

The ruler of the greatest Empire in the galaxy buried her head on her mother's shoulder and cried along with the older queen.  Her father wrapped his arms around both of them and squeezed tightly, tears forming in his eyes as well.

"Oh, Sasami will be so happy.  I'll summon her home at once.  Perhaps I can even talk Ryoko into bringing her in Ryo-ohki, then you can meet Tenchi and the others," Ayeka said between sobs.

Misaki patted her oldest daughter on the back of the head, "I think we already have dear.  But we'll be happy to meet your friends as well."

Ayeka raised her head and looked at the other woman standing there with her hands folded in front of her.  "Thank you for bringing them back.  Who are you?"

Belldandy smiled at the Empress, "I am Belldandy, Goddess First Class Unlimited, a friend of Washu's and the others.  It's a pleasure to meet you, although I have met your other self before.  But I must not stay here too long, I'm not a Juraian goddess and I don't belong in this Reality.  Do you have a mirror I might use?"

The image of Tsunami, unseen by any except Sasami for millennia faded into view.  With a gentle smile she said, "No need cousin.  I will send you home at your convenience.  You may stay in my realm for as long as you wish."

"Thank you My Lady, but I really need to get home.  Keiichi and my sisters will be wondering where I've got to," the Norn explained.

"I understand."  Tsunami waved her hand and the other Goddess faded from view.  "Thank you," the Juraian deity whispered as she herself faded away.

*****

A dusty group gathered in Yagami's dining area for dinner.  Washu materialized her holo terminal and scanned through the results of the data they had all been gathering for the past few days.  She scrolled through several screens, the nodded to herself and made the computer vanish.

"Well Washu, have you figured out what happened yet?" asked her daughter between mouthfuls of Sasami's cooking.

Washu reached across the table for the rice bowl  "Yes, Ryoko.  It seems there was a war here.  A war between higher dimensional beings."

The pirate's jaw dropped, "You don't mean…"

"Yes.  Tokimi, Tsunami and myself.    Our fighting managed to kill everything here.  Nothing is left; anywhere.  This whole reality is completely sterile," the scientist spooned out a generous helping for herself.

"Is that why you've had our Tokimi stay in your lab Washu?" asked Sasami.

"Partly, little one.  Partly.  Remember what she was like when she first appeared.  She had no concept of our idea of right and wrong.  Power was everything, lesser being were nothing but toys to her."

"And what did you expect her to learn Washu?" Tenchi inquired politely.

"Humility," Washu explained, "I learned it by becoming mortal for a time and being imprisoned by Kagato; Tsunami learned it by guiding and interacting with the Jurai.  I can hope that Tokimi learned it much quicker, given that she had all of us to help her."

Ayeka paused, food halfway to her mouth.  "But what about the cabbits and the other things?"

"Oh, the _me_ that was here created all of it.  About the same time that I created Ryoko and Ryo-ohki in our reality.  But something happened.  That _me_ didn't stop with one Ryo-ohki or one Ryoko.  There were many of them, not duplicates to be sure, but beings with the same capabilities.  And when the fighting broke out, the dimensional energies released caused them to be scattered across time and space to many different realities."

"But that ship showed battle damage.  It was in the fighting too," said the princess.

Washu chuckled mirthlessly, "Sure it was.  Remember, to most higher dimensional beings, mortals are nothing but toys; game pieces to be moved on a giant board.  I'm sure the people here took sides in the war.  The Juraians with Tsunami, others with me, still more with our sister.  The war could have, and probably did, go on for centuries.  Until something one of us did caused all this.  And maybe killed _ourselves_ as well."

"How is that possible?" Ryoko wondered aloud.

"Anything's possible dear.  What I call 'mortal' is only a matter of perspective.  There may be other beings even higher that see _us_ as nothing but toys.  I don't know.  In a Universe of infinite possibilities, anything can and will happen.  Including this…" Washu waved her hand around, indicating the dead world outside the ship.

*****

As they were boarding Yagami for the trip back to Earth and home, Sasami knelt down and buried something in the dusty soil.  Patting it down firmly, she whispered to the small mound then stood and ran up the ramp to the rest of the group.

"What was that, Sasami?" asked her sister.

"Nothing important Ayeka.  Just an offering from the past, to the future."

*****

Several days later something happened on the planet Jurai that hadn't happened in millennium.  It began to rain.  Not a hard rain, but very gentle.  It rained for several days and the thirsty ground soaked up the moisture like a sponge.  As the sun came out on the final day, a small green sprout with a few small leaves could be seen reaching from Sasami's offering.  Over it the image of a beautiful woman with bluish hair and pink eyes appeared and next to her appeared another, with reddish hair and green eyes.  As the red haired woman looked on, the other slowly faded downward into the new growth.  

When her sister was totally gone, the red head looked up into the sky and smiled.  "Well, it took us 25,000 years to learn what's important.  I hope we never forget again," she said, apparently to no one as grass began to grow rapidly around the small mound.

If anyone had been around to hear, they would have been astonished as a reply came from thin air, "Yes sister."  An image of a third woman, with brown hair and blue eyes appeared, floating over the green field which now extended as far as the eye could see. "We three must never let this happen again, anywhere."

*****

The End of The Great Cabbit Search

*****

Author's notes

In the notes at the end of the last chapter I didn't mean to sound like I was going to stop if I didn't get any reviews, it was just an explanation why I was so slow in getting the last chapter out.  Please, don't feel obligated to review these unless you really want to.  I'm going to write anyway, just maybe not as fast.

This is the end of the search; Washu found what she was looking for, but not what she expected.  I'm going to take a few days to work out some ideas then start on the practical joke battle between Washu and Xellos (I'm still working on a title for it).  That means parts of the Slayers cast will be putting in an appearance or two and Minagi may be back for an adventure as well.  Pretty Sammy and Pixy Misa may even make an appearance.  (I really like Pretty Sammy, but don't watch it until you've seen ALL of the other Tenchi episodes.  Otherwise you won't get some of the jokes and it won't make any sense.  Hmm, Misa and Peorth trying to speak in French to each other…  What a concept.)  I'm always open to ideas on how to use the characters if anyone wants to make any suggestions.

Review Responses

Priest – Your philosophy is valid.  I've heard the one about the micrometer and the ax before.  Mine is courtesy of the U.S. Army.  Oh, and I got the picture, thanks.  You sent it to my work e-mail so I didn't get it until after X-mas as I was off for 11 days using up my unused vacation time.  It is fanart, it seems to be an airbrushed piece.  All the original art was animation cels, pen and ink, or watercolor.  It's still a nice piece though.

DennisuD – Although I now have all the Oh! My Goddess DVDs and Mangas, I don't have the same depth of feeling for those characters yet as I do the Tenchi crew, so I don't think I'm quite ready to include Keiichi, Megumi, Sora and the rest yet.  Someday soon though…

Agent_86 – Yeah, I wish.  And that outfit Fam wears ain't bad either…

DragonBard – Ayeka is more of an OMG-Mara type demon (or maybe Slayers-Xellos) than anything else: not really evil, but always scheming and prone to extreme violence when her buttons are pushed.  Also very protective of those she considers family and friends.  She's not a true demon yet though, and I don't know if she ever will be.  As for the higher planes; if we assume that the type of beings we're talking about are from a higher dimension (as stated in the Tenchi OAV for Tokimi), then the concept of heaven and hell become relative to ones point-of-view, don't you think?  Just speculating here, don't take me too seriously…

BobR

01/03/02


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